Hanoi (VNA) - Many technology talents have beenreturning to Vietnam after studying abroad, helping fuel not only domestic electronicssupply chains but also the fast-growing digital economy.

Nikkei Asia reported that Vietnam has long sent far more students overseas than its neighbours,and these students gain skills and networks that prove valuable upon return.

More than two decades of study-abroad programmes is bearing fruit. Earlycohorts have had time to graduate and go to work – often in foreign countries –and now bring that experience to bear in Vietnam at a mature point in theircareers. During that time, the country has worked to become a more attractive destination. High-tech goods as a share ofexports, for example, hit 42% in 2020, up from 13% in 2010, the Japan-based news magazine wrote.

UNESCO data show that Vietnam topsSoutheast Asian countries in the number of overseas students, followed byIndonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

Meanwhile, it has ranked among thetop 10 sources of international students in the US for more than a decade.

The number ofVietnamese students at US universities and colleges increased 5.7% to 21,900 inthe 2022 - 2023 school year. Vietnam remains in the fifth place among the topsources of international students in the North American nation. Science,technology, engineering, and maths (STEM), along with business/administrationare still the programmes Vietnamese students enroll in most, respectively at47.6% and 24.7%, according to the US’s Open Doors Report 2023 of the Instituteof International Education (IIE).

The Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF), launched in the US by itsCongress, has granted hundreds of scholarships to Vietnamese students andscholars.

Nikkei Asia cited an investor and Stanford alum as saying that the fundis a key example of investments now paying off as alumni have come of age andestablished themselves in Vietnam's economy.

VEF scholars have gone on to found startupssuch as the machine-learning vendor Palexy and Zalo, whichis more popular in Vietnam than Facebook. More generally, many graduates of Harvardand Cambridge have come home to lead all manner of tech companies, includingTap Tap – a rewards platform, Uber Vietnam and the logistics startup Abivin.

However, there remain a lot of challenges to the workforce and theeconomy.

In several ways, performance has not kept up with potential. Besides,suppliers for Apple say they can't find enough engineers. The country has yetto generate a startup that, like Indonesia's Gojek or Singapore's Shopee, trulycan take its brand across borders, Nikkei Asia reported./.