On 18th May, 1988, Ministry of Transport and Communications issued the Decision No. 1252/TCCB-LĐ on the establishment of Ho Chi Minh City In-service Training Center of Transport. One year later, on the basis of this, the Southern Center of Maritime Education was set up on 14th of January 1989 with its head office located in Ho Chi Minh City. (Decision No. 968/TCCB-LĐ on January 14th, 1989).

In the first school year 1988 -1989, with 20 officials, lecturers, this Center enrolled 253 students in majors of Ship navigation, Marine Engineering, Ship electricity, Sea Transport Economics, Mechanization of Cargo Handling, Waterway and Offshore Construction, Ship building in all the levels of training. This set the foundation for the development of Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport.

On August 20th, 1991, Ministry of Transport issued a decision No 1665/TCCB-LĐ on establishment of a branch of Vietnam Maritime University (VIMARU) that was in charge of training maritime officers.

Image showing the activity of saluting the Vietnamese flag of the branch of Vietnam Maritime University

Together with the social-economic development of Viet Nam, the high demands of constructing the infrastructurers, especially in maritime, road, railway, urban traffic system, inland waterway, airway... in the South of Viet Nam (especially in the important economic region – Ho Chi Minh City, Bien Hoa, Vung Tau, Dong Nai, Can Tho and Tay Nguyen, South Central Viet Nam) required the skillful and high quality workforce specializing in technology, trasport management. In addition, after 10 years of developing, the branch of Vietnam Maritime University has become a well-known and prestigious regular training center. This branch worker independently in regarding in organization and finance, with high quality officials and lecturers as well as good facilities, scientific research activities and wide national and international relations.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport (UT-HCMC), under the authority of Ministry of Transport, was founded on 26th of April 2001 under the Decision No 66/2001/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister on the basis of the branch of Vietnam Maritime University.

2001-2002 school year opening ceremony

Since 2011, UT-HCMC has been actively improving the quantity as well as the quality of officials and academic staff.  UT-HCMC has put focus on enhancing the quality of university training, upgrading the facilities, reforming the curriculum and innovating the teaching approaches. UT-HCMC has also encouraged many national and local organizations to provide many scholarships, funds for equipting the laboratories and for the research projects.

Over more than 25 years, many generations of student graduating from UT-HCMC has been using their knowledge, talent and other capabilities to contribute to the development of Viet Nam. Several generations of officials, staff, lecturers have worked in UT-HCMC, observing many changes, happiness and concerns.

UT-HCMC gave Memorial Medals to donors accompanying with the development of the university

Together with new belief and desire, UT-HCMC has planned the strategic development to the year of 2030: to form the high quality scientific staff having the full capability to carry out the scientific research, tecchnology transfer belonged to the projects, national programs, internationall collaboration in the trasport and other sectors; to put focus on investing to the fields of railway, urban transport, (monorail, metro, underground...), planning and managing the urban transport, logistics on the basis of the world’s modern techonology to make UT-HCMC become the technology and science center specilizing in the transport sector in the South of Viet Nam; to provide the human resources to work in the efficient multi-modal transport linked with the urban, region and the world; to invest in the basic and special laboratories provided with complete modern equipments so that UT-HCMC can carry out many experiments; to strengthen the international collaborations to approach advanced science and technology; to research and aplly new way of administrating and training; to reform, perfect and improve the quality training in the format of credit training; to upgrade the contents of curriculum in the trend of increasing practice, decreasing theory; to provide the human resources to work in the sea economy sector, link the technological services with the global pollution protection, life-saving, floating construction, coastline and island protection,...

With all the previous achievements and the motto “Active, creative, intelligence focus of all the officials and academic staff”, we definitely believe that UT-HCMC shall confidently move forward and step into the new phase of developing, making use of opportunities, facing with challenges of the integrating age. UT-HCMC shall accomplish all the assigned missions, become the key multi-disciplinary university in the transport sector of the South of Viet Nam and the whole nation.