The new US ambassador to Vietnam, Michael Michalak, spelled out his agenda during his first meeting with the local media Thursday, and that included doubling the scholarships given to Vietnamese students.
His embassy in Hanoi was mulling over some new approaches like sending officials to local universities to find identify students seeking to study in the US and to explain visa procedures, he said.

The US Educational Organization in Vietnam would be mobilized to find further ways to help Vietnamese students go to the US, he said.

Michalak, who also offered the usual platitudes about deepening economic ties with Vietnam and discuss the human rights issue, seemed to have an insight into Asian culture while answering correspondents’ questions.