More Australian students to study in Asia under Colombo Plan
According to
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, the expansion of the Plan
reflects the strong support of the country’s partner governments for the
Plan’s aims of lifting knowledge of the region for Australian young
people.
Experience gained in the process of study in the region
will ensure that students will make valuable contributions to activities
of Australia’s business community and to driving economic growth in the
country and the region in general in the years ahead, Bishop said.
The government has committed 100 million AUD (86 million USD) in new funding over five years to implement the New Colombo Plan.
A
pilot phase of the Plan began earlier this year in the two ASEAN member
countries of Indonesia and Singapore, along with two other Asian
destinations of Japan and Hong Kong (China).
From the 1950s to
the mid-1980s, the original Colombo Plan brought tens of thousands of
students from Southeast Asia to study in Australia.
All 10 ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to participate in the New Plan.-VNA