8:45 am Forum open to guests for registration
9:00 am Education Forum*
10:30 am Country briefing for U.S. universities
11:30 am Ballrooms open for set-up
12:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm University booth set-up (cont)
2:00 pm Fair opens to the public
6:00 pm Fair ends

*Education Forum
This event will be held the morning of the fair. The forum provides a space for US and Vietnamese educational representatives to discuss the possibility of creating joint degree and international cooperation/exchange programs. The event will include short speeches by US Consulate officials, as well as the IIE Vietnam Director. IIE will distribute a booklet in advance of the event that includes profiles of each school and contact information, so that the representatives can easily follow up with each other.

Last year, over 2,700 potential students and parents attended the fair in Ho Chi Minh City. The majority of students interested in studying abroad are seeking an undergraduate education (over 80% of all students). They are mostly self-sponsored, but seeking financial aid. Dissemination of accurate and timely information about the US higher education system remains difficult in Vietnam and thus you may expect that students will be extremely eager to pick up any information from colleges and universities at the fair.

OCS will be working with IIE again in 2007 as an official shipper of exhibitor materials.
Participating institutions shipping with OCS will not need to make any international shipments.
Instead, all boxes can be forwarded to our OCS trade fair hub in Boston.

From here, OCS will take care of the rest, including address labeling and export documentation.
OCS will pay all duties and taxes on your behalf overseas. You will have no customs clearance worries.
OCS performs all of these services seamlessly and automatically for all exhibitors shipping with OCS.

We will store all exhibitors’ materials in our overseas stations and deliver them on instruction from IIE, direct to the fair venue.

Complete shipping instructions will be emailed to all registered participants.
You can always contact OCS at fairs@shipOCS.com or by calling toll-free in the U.S. 1-877-2222-OCS.

Note: for participants NOT using OCS.

If you decide to use another carrier to ship directly overseas, your ship-to address will be the OCS agency address in each destination country. IIE has requested that OCS in each Fair city receive this type of “direct” freight.

After you register for the fair and complete the proper OCS forms, we will send you instructions on where to send boxes in each city, and what the charges will be.

Please do NOT ship any materials to the offices of IIE or the fair organizers.

It will be the responsibility of your carrier to deliver your materials “door-to-door” overseas to OCS.
Please make sure your carrier is able to clear customs in the countries you ship to, and make sure they can take care of duty and taxes for you. Please do NOT ship your materials as “cargo” or “door-to-airport”, because these services generally do NOT include customs clearance. Neither OCS nor IIE will be able to assist if your packages are delayed in customs or undeliverable due to improper labeling.

OCS will be working with IIE again in 2007 as an official shipper of exhibitor materials.
Participating institutions shipping with OCS will not need to make any international shipments.
Instead, all boxes can be forwarded to our OCS trade fair hub in Boston.

From here, OCS will take care of the rest, including address labeling and export documentation.
OCS will pay all duties and taxes on your behalf overseas. You will have no customs clearance worries.
OCS performs all of these services seamlessly and automatically for all exhibitors shipping with OCS.

We will store all exhibitors’ materials in our overseas stations and deliver them on instruction from IIE, direct to the fair venue.

Complete shipping instructions will be emailed to all registered participants.
You can always contact OCS at fairs@shipOCS.com or by calling toll-free in the U.S. 1-877-2222-OCS.

Note: for participants NOT using OCS.

If you decide to use another carrier to ship directly overseas, your ship-to address will be the OCS agency address in each destination country. IIE has requested that OCS in each Fair city receive this type of “direct” freight.

After you register for the fair and complete the proper OCS forms, we will send you instructions on where to send boxes in each city, and what the charges will be.

Please do NOT ship any materials to the offices of IIE or the fair organizers.

It will be the responsibility of your carrier to deliver your materials “door-to-door” overseas to OCS.
Please make sure your carrier is able to clear customs in the countries you ship to, and make sure they can take care of duty and taxes for you. Please do NOT ship your materials as “cargo” or “door-to-airport”, because these services generally do NOT include customs clearance. Neither OCS nor IIE will be able to assist if your packages are delayed in customs or undeliverable due to improper labeling.

Arriving in Vietnam

A tourist visa is required. Please contact the Vietnam Embassy in Washington, DC (202-861-0737) or the Vietnamese consulate in San Francisco, and allow at least one week for processing. You may also download the information that you will need for your visa from the Embassy webpage at www.vietnamembassy-usa.org. Generally, you will need to provide the Embassy/Consulate with a completed application form, two passport photos, a check for the visa fee, your passport, and a return express mail envelope. Visas are normally good for 30 days from the date you specify that you will enter the country. You must also decide your port of entry because this will be written on your visa and cannot be changed later. If you indicate that you will be traveling for tourist purposes and arriving by air, your visa will usually permit you to enter and exit by both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Because you will be in Vietnam for a short visit, even if you extend for a few days to visit local institutions, please apply for a tourist visa. List the hotel where you will be staying as your contact. It is not appropriate to list IIE because as a foreign organization, we have no authority over you and are unable to sponsor visas. If you list the Ministry of Education and Training or a university, you will be required to have them sponsor your visa, delaying your application.

When you arrive in Vietnam, you will first go through immigration where your passport and entry-exit card are carefully checked. Next you will pick up your luggage and clear it through customs. Do not bring videos, or lots of bulk materials for fair distribution as this may cause delays. If something is held at customs for review, ask for a receipt and pick up the materials later (most often it is more trouble for the customs officer to issue the receipt than it is to clear the materials). Also, make sure to keep your entry-exit card and customs form together with your passport as they will be checked when you leave Vietnam.

After clearing customs, follow the flow of passengers out of the airport. Both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have done a good job of clearing the immediate area outside the airport of independent taxi drivers and hotel agents so you can get into the city hassle-free.

In Ho Chi Minh City, if you have not already made other arrangements, there will be metered taxis lined up outside the airport. You need only tell the driver where you want to go. Please make sure that they turn on the meter and do not accept "quoted" prices.

Leaving Vietnam
Vietnamese visas specify from which point(s) you are permitted to leave the country - usually Hanoi Noi Bai Airport or Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat Airport. If you indicated that you will arrive and depart by air, then your visa should automatically reflect your ability to depart from either airport. If you intend to exit from a place not specified on your visa, make sure to have the immigration office adjust your visa accordingly. It is essential to reconfirm your departing flight as soon as you arrive in Vietnam. The hotels can assist you. Departure tax is $14 payable in US dollars or Vietnamese dong.

Traveling inside Vietnam
If you have already booked in-country flights, it is essential that you reconfirm them upon arrival. Vietnam Airlines, the main carrier, has been known to delay, reroute or even cancel local flights with little or no warning. It is recommended that early morning flights be used if at all possible. Departure tax at domestic airports has now been folded into the price of the ticket.

HOTEL EQUATORIAL HCMC
242 Tran Binh Trong, Dist. 5
Ho Chi Minh City

› Download the hotel booking form

All above rates are on a per room per night basis and subject to 5% service charge & 10% VAT.

Guest Room Benefits

Guests staying with us will enjoy the following benefits:

• Welcome drink at the Lobby Lounge
• Welcome fruit basket in the room on arrival date
• Daily English newspaper
• Admission to Equinox Fitness & Leisure Centre (3rd Floor) including use of Gym, Sauna, Jacuzzi, Steam bath and our outdoor Swimming Pool from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
• Complimentary scheduled city shuttle service
• Enjoy a 20% discount for Equinox massage, hair and beauty services (excluding Spa packages). Last booking for massage services is at midnight.

Airport Transfer Service

By Limousine : US$30.00nett per car per way (maximum 3 persons per car)
By Shuttle : US$10.00nett per person per shuttle per way

Check-in and Check-out Time

Check-in : 1400 hours
Check out : 1200 hours
Late Check out before 6:00p.m. : Half-day charge
Late check out after 6:00p.m. : Full day charge

Money
The currency of Vietnam is the "dong" (abbreviated as VND or "d" with a vertical line through the stem), and can easily be changed at the hotel, gold shops and of course banks. US dollars are also acceptable, but shops will only accept clean, whole bills. USD notes with tears, writing on them, or older notes (i.e., not the newly issued versions) may not be accepted even by the hotel or banks. Credit cards can be used at most hotels and up-scale shops and restaurants, however a 3% commission is usually passed onto the customer. Traveller's Cheques can also be used, but it is best to cash them at the State Bank of Vietnam to avoid all kinds of additional fees and commissions.

Health
Various health authorities recommend travelers to Vietnam get a slew of vaccines including rabies, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, BCG (tuberculosis), Japanese encephalitis, polio, typhoid, tetanus and diphtheria. Yellow fever is not endemic to Vietnam, but you are required to have it if you are traveling from a yellow fever area. If you are only planning to stay in Vietnam a few days and are not leaving the major urban areas, it is probably only necessary to make sure your regular inoculations are up to date (measles, tetanus, hepatitis A and B). There are very good international hospitals and evacuation services in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The hotels will be able to assist you in case of emergency.

Climate and Clothing
Vietnam has a remarkably diverse climate as a result of its wide range of altitudes and latitudes. In October, Ho Chi Minh City will be extremely hot and humid, while Hanoi will be slightly cooler, and less humid, although it may rain. However the tropical storm season will be over for both cities. Dress in Vietnam is more casual than in other Asian capitals, skirts or slacks for women and short-sleeve dress shirts with ties for men are considered appropriate.

Warning
Be especially careful of pickpockets in the urban areas (particularly downtown Ho Chi Minh City and any market area). In Ho Chi Minh City, it is often better not to carry a wallet and simply carry your i.d., credit cards, and other money that you believe you will need on that particular trip out. Also please beware of drive-by-snatchings as you cross the street or stand at corners waiting to cross. The most common theft in Vietnam is by motorcyclists snatching bags of unsuspecting tourists. If you must carry a bag, please walk with it carried away from the flow of street traffic. Do not wear the strap across your body as it could cause injury during a drive-by-snatching if it does not disengage and you are pulled into traffic. In any event, avoid keeping anything of great value in your bags when walking on the street. During the fair, please keep any valuables in your room or the hotel safe as there have been instances of pickpocketing at past events.

US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam National Administration of Tourism

Lonely Planet World Guide, Destination Vietnam

Dr. Mark Ashwill
Director
Institute of International Education - Vietnam
C9 Giang Vo
Ba Dinh District
Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: (84-4) 726-2524
Fax: (84-4) 726-2523
E-mail: mashwill@iievn.org