A new consultancy and information office of the US Institute of International Education (IIE) was officially inaugurated in Ho Chi Minh City on September 24 under the sponsorship of the Bureau for Cultural and Educational Affairs of the US Department of State.

The inaugural ceremony is a focus of the Vietnam visit by the US Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Goli Ameri.

IIE Vietnam is one of 450 US-run educational information and consultancy centres in the world. They issue advice and information to international students on the US educational system and opportunities for study in the country.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Assistant Secretary Ameri said that IIE centres will help open doors for Vietnamese students to enroll at 4,000 colleges and universities in the US.

Vietnam is now one of 20 countries having the largest number of students studying in the US, with more than 6,000 students in 50 states of the US in 2007.

Ameri said she hoped that, with a record number of 5,154 visas issued to Vietnamese students in 2008, the number of Vietnamese students going to the US to study during 2009 will reach 10,000. (VNA)