Last week, the Australian government announced it will raise its cap on foreign students by 9%, to 295,000, and will prioritize applicants from Southeast Asia.

Japan aims to increase its foreign student population to 400,000 by 2033, while South Korea is targeting 300,000 by 2027. In Taiwan, the government announced plans last year to attract 25,000 Southeast Asian students annually to help address labor shortages in key industries.

A 2023 report by international education consultancy Acumen found that approximately 132,000 Vietnamese were studying abroad, accounting for nearly 40% of all Southeast Asian overseas students. Malaysia and Indonesia each sent over 50,000 students abroad, while Thailand contributed around 32,000.

In 2022, Southeast Asia became the third-largest region globally for outbound student mobility, following China and India, with 350,000 students studying overseas, according to Acumen.

European universities, struggling with chronic underfunding and aware that demographic challenges across the continent necessitate higher-skilled migrant workers, have begun looking toward Southeast Asia.

In June, the German Embassy in Hanoi funded a "career truck" to tour Vietnam and promote study opportunities in Germany. Just a month earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron gave a keynote speech at the University of Science and Technology in Hanoi during a state visit.

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Meanwhile, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, speaking in Brussels in July, called for more Indonesians to pursue higher education in Europe.........

© Deutsche Welle