The Institut Européen de Cooperation et de Développement (IECD) and Thu Duc College of Technology (TDC) have announced today the opening of “La Boulangerie Française – HCMC”, a Bread-Pastry Making School for disadvantaged young adults. Building on the success of La Boulangerie Française in Huế and on the good results it has achieved for nearly 20 years, IECD decided in 2016 to expand the project in Ho Chi Minh City with a similar model, in partnership with TDC.

In December 2017, 20 Vietnamese young adults aged 18-23 years-old, recruited on economic and social criteria, began an intensive training of 16 to 20 months in bakery and pastry at the highest standards of qualification; they also benefit from English and life skills lessons throughout their apprenticeship. TDC provides the students with accommodation (within its dormitories), and IECD covers for the tuition, food, and healthcare. A monthly participation fee of 150 000 VND is requested from the students; however, it can be partially or totally waived in some specific situations.

La Boulangerie Française – HCMC aims to enable its students to become highly-skilled, responsible adults, socially well-integrated and capable of becoming agents of their own development. The goal is to allow them to create a better future not only for themselves, but also for their families and communities.

To ensure its economic sustainability, La Boulangerie Française will operate as a social enterprise and, thanks to the sale of products made by apprentices, it aims to finance itself at more than 90%.