This hospitality management course under the Raffles Knowledge-Raffles Campus collaboration will also be conducted at aclEnglish Education Limited in Bangkok, Thailand. The first hospitality management diploma course at both schools will begin at the end of this year.

Mr Tommy Ng, Executive Director of Raffles Knowledge, said, �Vietnam is a dynamic market with a great potential for economic growth, fuelled by the strength of the hospitality industry. This collaboration comes at an opportune time with growing demand for hospitality management professionals in Vietnam. With the tie-up, Raffles Knowledge is able to expand international foothold.� 

According to forecasts by The World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Vietnam will see a seven to eight percent growth in its annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the next few years. The travel and tourism industry is expected to be one of the major driving forces, growing at an annualised growth rate of 8.3 percent. According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), 
the number of overseas visitors to Vietnam reached more than 933,000 in the first four months of 2004. This represents an increase of 7.6 percent from the same period last year.

With Vietnam�s aggressive industrialisation programme, there is a growing need for the provision of professional education and training for its people. The diploma programme in hospitality management will effectively develop Vietnam�s human resource to groom industry professionals, underpinning the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), a national initiative promoting the sharing of technical assistance with developing countries.

This academic collaboration allows both Raffles Knowledge and Raffles Campus to leverage on each other�s strengths and expertise. Under the terms of this agreement, Raffles Knowledge will develop the diploma curriculum, and set assessments and examinations for all registered students at Singapore Raffles Education Centre and aclEnglish Education Limited. 

Raffles Knowledge is a wholly owned subsidiary and training arm of Raffles International, the hotel management subsidiary of Raffles Holdings Limited. Raffles Holdings is a member of CapitaLand.

This is Raffles Knowledge�s second academic tie-up in two months. Raffles Knowledge recently announced a similar collaboration with EasyCall International Limited in April to offer a diploma in hospitality management programme at the Tianjin University of Commerce in China. 

Mr Peter Fong, President of Raffles Campus, said, �This collaboration between Raffles Campus and Raffles Knowledge combines the best from both companies. It brings about greater synergy of the wider ST-group interest. The ST-group companies share ST�s mission to propel Singapore further through successful enterprises worldwide. This diploma programme in hospitality management is one collaboration that brings forth this mission.�

About Raffles Campus Pte Ltd (www.rafflescampus.com) 

Raffles Campus Pte Ltd (Raffles Campus) specialises in providing quality education and training programmes in Asia, particularly in the countries where it operates. Raffles Campus� shareholders include Green Dot Investments Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Technologies. 

Besides academic advancement opportunities, Raffles Campus also provides professional education, industry training and managerial effectiveness programmes. Raffles Campus has established itself in Singapore and Vietnam. More educational campuses will be set up across the Asia Pacific region.