Cal State Fullerton College of Business and Economics Dean Sri Sundaram, alumnus and donor Tam Nguyen ’05, and CSUF Extension and International Programs Dean Debra Leahy traveled to Vietnam in November 2022 to visit our academic partner Foreign Trade University. The goal is to build relationships between CSUF and other universities in Vietnam and create links with the Orange County Vietnamese expatriate community, the largest in the world outside Vietnam.

For a decade, Cal State Fullerton has maintained a reciprocal study abroad relationship and faculty exchange with Foreign Trade University (FTU) in Hanoi. The pandemic interrupted physical travel, but the dean’s visit was designed in part to restart the partnership for the post-COVID era.

“During the pandemic, the partnership was impacted negatively, and we missed having students from FTU visit us and also our faculty visiting Vietnam,” says Sundaram. “Now, we have extended our partnership agreement for another five years and are building relationships with their leadership team.”

While most Business Titans remain in Southern California, the alumni base is truly global, with many in Vietnam. The dean’s visit included efforts to engage Vietnamese resident alumni through in person and virtual events.

“We also wanted to make sure we help develop relationships between CSUF, our Vietnamese community in Orange County, and Vietnam,” explains Sundaram. “The goal is to develop trade missions supporting Southern California businesses that do business in Vietnam, as well as opportunities for students and faculty to accompany these businesses so they can learn from the experience.”

Each year, Vietnam is moving closer to being an industrialized economy. In 2022, the country’s gross domestic product expanded more than 8%, with more foreign direct investment from Japan and South Korea. “This has led to a need for more talent, and Vietnam is one of the countries where multinational corporations have looked to set up their supply chain to mitigate the risk of relying solely on mainland China,” says Sundaram. “Demographic data indicates that Vietnam has one of the youngest populations in the world along with a growing middle class. It is also a country that is great to visit, with the diverse landscape and flora and fauna that vary from the country’s north to south.”

The Cal State Fullerton College of Business and Economics is committed to being a global leader in business education, while ensuring the international perspectives needed for success in the contemporary business world, ensuring students acquire the international perspectives needed in the 21st century.