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Mal Skelly said there were now already 10,000 Vietnamese students compared to the 2,400 in 2005 when he came here to take up the post of Australian consul general. "So, the number will be more than double in the next three years."

More and more Vietnamese families send their children to Australia for study as Australian education is strongly promoted in Vietnam, he said.

The 20,000 number would include those beneficiaries of scholarships provided by the Australian government, he told the Daily on Friday night when the Australian consulate general and the Vietnamese Graduates from Australia Club (VGAC) launched the Australian Alumni Awards, the first initiative of its kind in Vietnam.

The objective is to recognize Vietnamese graduates whose talents and contributions have enriched and benefited the community. Many of the graduates have come back and demonstrated their success in various fields, including art, technology and business.

The Awards were chosen for launch this year when Australia and Vietnam celebrate their 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations, as part of a series of events that the Australian consulate general and VGAC are organizing to mark the important milestone.

"The Awards have been planned since 2005. However 2008 is chosen to inaugurate this respectable program as Australia and Vietnam are celebrating the 35th year of diplomatic relations. It is also a timely response to the alumni community's long-awaited need to recognize its outstanding members whose numerous achievements are yet to be officially celebrated," VGAC chairman Nguyen Phi Dung said.

Skelly said each year a growing number of Vietnamese students travelled to Australia for study, and presenting these awards was a way to recognize the contributions these graduates made when they returned to Vietnam.

Nominations for the awards will be closed on September 19. People from the general public in Vietnam and Australia, including alumni, government, education institutions, industry and business, can nominate alumni.

Dung said the winners would be announced at the Australian Alumni Awards Cocktail event in HCMC in November, and nominations were open for the Australian Alumni Awards for culture, arts and education; sustainable social development; entrepreneurship; research and science; and friendship.

The first four categories are for Vietnamese citizens only who have studied or are taking Australian courses for more than six months at the time of their nomination. Nominees do not have to be working in the particular discipline from which they graduated, but it is essential to display an on-going high level of achievement in the award category.

The last category is for Australian nominees who are working and living in Vietnam for at least 12 months before they are nominated. Nominees can be Australian or Australian-Vietnamese who demonstrate an on-going contribution to the relationship between two countries in any field.

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