Vietnam received the highest or second highest number of recipients ofthe Australia Awards Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships for 2014,the Australian Embassy in Hanoi has said.

The EndeavourScholarships and Fellowships are internationally competitivescholarships which promote knowledge, education links and enduring tiesbetween Australia and its neighbours.

Around 4000applications are received each year from over 125 eligible countries.The applications are assessed on merit and there are no country quotas.Of the 56 countries receiving awards, Vietnam received 44 scholarships,the second highest number for any country with a total value exceeding6.8 million AUD, equivalent to 129 billion VND.

For the thirdyear in a row, Vietnam has received the highest number of theprestigious Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Scholarships across 10eligible countries.

“This is a significant achievement forVietnam, reflecting the quality of Vietnamese applications and the highlevel of interest in studying in Australia,” Australian Ambassador HughBorrowman said in a press release.

The 2014 round also saw anincreased number of successful applications from regions outside Hanoi,particularly from Hue. Many of the scholarships are in the field ofeducation, with a number also in engineering, IT, agriculture andeconomics.

Endeavour awardees will gain access to leaders intheir field of study, business and government and will develop ongoingeducation, research and professional linkages that last well beyondtheir programme. They will also be able to share in experiences todeepen their understanding of Australia.-VNA