MASTER OF SCIENCE IN FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS

This master degree program is offered by the Norwegian College of Fisfery Science (NCFS), Faculty of Bioscience, Fisheries and Economics at the University of Tromso, in cooperation with Nha Trang University, Vietnam. The study program is of two years duration, corresponding to 120 ECTS (European Community Course Credit Transfer System) at graduate level, within subject fields and international relevance, aimed at both foreign and Norweigian students. The language of instruction and examination is English. All teaching take place at Nha Trang University.

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1. Programme objective

To meet needs of human resources in fisheries economics and aquaculture in Vietnam and in some other developing countries, specifically:

+ To provide students, for their work in both private businesses and public institutions, with skills in economics and business administration, while environmental and social limits to economic development and trade will be equally focused on.

+ To offer opportunities for building up capacity of the NTU Staff via participating in either teaching or studying courses offered by this MSc program, then, contributing to the sustainable development of NTU in particular and Vietnam's fisheries as a whole.

To enhance and enrich Norwegian staff's experience of specific conditions in Vietnam's and partner countries' fisheries that can be considered representative of those in the developing world. This acquired knowledge can be integrated in their profession work at home and abroad.

To set conditions for the regional academic cooperation that further contributes to the common resolution of problems in Asian fisheries.

2. Cooperation Agreement between the University of Tromso and Nha Trang University:

NOMA- FAME program is the extension, then, further realization of the bilateral cooperation officially stated in the Contract between Norwegian College of Fisheries Science (NCFS) - University of Tromso (UoT) and University of Fisheries (UoF) regarding Improving Training and Research Capacity of the University of Fisheries, Vietnam. It has been strongly emphasized in the preamble of the Agreement that "The Government of the Kingdom of Norway and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam have entered into an agreement ("the Agreement") dated 25 June 2003 regarding Norway's assistance to the project "improving training and research capacity of the UoF, Vietnam.

In addition, related to the potential FAME program in Vietnam, Prof. Jarle Aarbakke, Rector of the University of Tromso, together with Prof.Knut Heen, Rector of NCFS, has confirmed their commitments in writing as "NCFS/UoT is becoming the increasingly significant provider of human resources for fisheries sectors at home and abroad, and also represented, over the last decade, an important manpower training venue at the Master level for world fisheries through the MSc in International Fisheries Management. We wish to enhance this position in higher education and research, and work closely with your and other Asian regional institutions for an integrated educational system. This is to realize Norwegian experts’ aspirations to master new knowledge provided by emerging fisheries in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and others, thus contributing to further development of the fisheries and marine environment of the Asian region. As this vision has been in line with the spirit upheld by NORAD, NCFS/UiT will make our best efforts to successfully run the FAME MSc Program at NTU".

Also, Dr Xung, Rector of the University of Fisheries (whose name has been changed to Nha Trang University - NTU - in October 2006), confirmed in his official letter to the main proposing partner in Norway "NTU has been the leading supplier of human resource for Vietnam's fisheries sector and also represented the important manpower training venue at both undergraduate and graduate levels for Indochina fisheries as a whole. We wish to build on competence and capacity in higher education and research, and work closely with UoT and other regional institutions for an integrated educational system. As this vision has been unanimously shared among our stakeholders, NTU will do everything we can to facilitate and contribute to the successful implemetation of FAME at NTU, and this project is always on the top of our agenda priorities in case of different interests existing".

3. The relevance of the NOMA-FAME programme to fisheries development in Vietnam:

Vietnam22f8042c-a1bd-4863-b3d1-583d5da3be12 SMS's fisheries sector has been recently witnessing a dramatic upward trend in economics and trade, becoming a large supplier in this field. In the face of this, relevant education and training activities are in desperate need of change to keep it update to the emerging needs of learners. While BSc education generally accommodates this trend, such MSc programs are still far from actual demands nationwide. This is also common in many other developing countries, including the Asian partner countries.

Meanwhile, it is still a widely-held view in Vietnam that modern fisheries economics and management to a great extent is not a far cry from traditional management approaches. Special features in fisheries have been largely ignored in policy-making processes. This translates into the necessity for a post-graduate FAME program in Vietnam.

Further, the number of professors formally trained in Fisheries Economics and Management has been admittedly modest in this country. This leads to the fact that it is of tremendous significance to secure the professional staff qualified for the MSc training program in the future – the vision that has been broadly shared among stakeholders. Therefore, the educational cooperation on a specific MSc program is of great necessity, promising to bring sustained educational benefits to the NTU and Vietnam as a whole. Also, staff working for the sector in Vietnam, and in various other developing countries, can be equipped with science-based knowledge that are extremely necessary for their practical jobs. Above all, this contributes to the overall aim of capacity building for institutions in Norway's main partner countries as well as other selected countries.