Education Pillar

Myanmar Scholarship Fund (Inactive)

The US-ASEAN Business Council Institute (USABCI) launched the Myanmar Scholarship Fund at the opening of the inaugural US-Indo-Pacific Conference on April 5, 2022, in an effort to raise $6 million over the next three years to provide scholarships for U.S.-based Myanmar students whose education has been disrupted by the political and economic situation in Myanmar and were facing financial difficulties in completing their degree programs.  

USABCI has established a partnership with the Institute of International Education (IIE), a well-respected leader in international education, to administer and manage the issuance of the scholarships. IIE’s extensive screening and vetting system further mitigates potential engagement with any politically contentious entities and affiliates.

The Scholarship Fund provided $5,000 merit scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students from Myanmar enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions. Scholarships may be used to defray academic costs required to achieve a degree, including tuition, fees, books, supplies, and equipment.  

The scholarship fund was listed in a White House statement as a key education deliverable during the historic U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit in May 2022, and has been endorsed by the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

The Myanmar Scholarship Fund is made possible through the support of its founding Chair, the late Madeleine Albright, and its Patrons, former U.S. Ambassadors to Myanmar Derek Mitchell and Scot Marciel.  The Fund has raised more than $1 million to date, with contributions from Chevron, Meta, The Asia Group, BowerGroupAsia, McLarty Associates and other friends of Myanmar, and the support of US-ABC, the US ICT Council for Myanmar and the Albright Stonebridge Group.

Visit the Myanmar Scholarship Fund website here.

U.S.-ASEAN Internship Program (Inactive)

The U.S.-ASEAN Internship Program is a joint initiative between USABCI and the U.S. Mission to ASEAN to support human capacity development efforts in Southeast Asia. In August 2018, USABCI and the U.S. Mission to ASEAN signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)for the Internship Program, effective for five years. 

By pooling information on internship opportunities at top U.S. companies, we provide students with the opportunity to gain valuable work experience while gaining a deeper understanding of the U.S. style of doing business. A total of16 companies have participated in the Internship Program, providing 200 internship vacancies for ASEAN students and recent graduates across ten ASEAN countries. Over the course of the program, the portal received over 22,600 job views and over 3,600 job seeker profiles.

However, due to personnel bandwidth and budget constraints, USABCI closed the Internship Program portal in August 2023. Looking ahead, USABCI will continue to support the Internship Program alongside U.S. Mission to ASEAN in ad-hoc events, such as webinars or workshops, when there is interest and available resources.

In Partnership with: