The centre will provide consultations to Vietnamese public servants and students who plan to study or conduct research at one of ten campuses of the University of Hawaii.

The University of Hawaii will send its leading professors to provide further English language training to teachers from HANU and other universities at the centre.

"The inter-university centre will help us to participate in education, training and cooperate with Vietnamese and ASEAN counterparts in conducting research," said Rector David McClain of the University of Hawaii.

Formerly known as the Hanoi University of Foreign Studies, HANU offers undergraduate and postgraduate language courses in 11 languages including English, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Vietnamese.

HANU has been offering eight new majors since 2002, including some disciplines taught in English such as business administration, tourism and international studies.