From 1955 to 1989, Vietnam sent a large number of trainees and students to the universities, technical and vocational schools of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) as part of the broader cooperation between these two socialist states. Many of them held important social positions after returning home and made important contributions to the development of society.

At present, the cooperation between the Federal Republic of Germany and Vietnam is still growing quantitively and qualitatively in many sectors, especially in education. Hence, it is important to evaluate the considerable contribution of the GDR for training highly qualified workers for Vietnam and to provide recommendations to develop a more efficient curriculum for the Vietnamese studying in the Federal Republic of Germany.

The study "Educational cooperation between the German Democratic Republic (DDR) and Vietnam before 1989 - Perspectives from the Vietnamese DDR-Alumni " is a joint effort that served the aforementioned goal as part of a cooperative research project between the Hanoi office of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung and the Institute for Scientific Socialism at Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics. The result of the study can also be seen as a sign of the gratitude of the Vietnamese graduates to the former GDR and today's Federal Republic of Germany.