Austria Boost Vietnam's Tertiary Education

Austria Boost Vietnam's Tertiary Education.

HCM CITY — Viet Nam and Austria would continue strengthening co-operation in tertiary education and science and technology, a forum was told in HCM City yesterday.

The Viet Nam-Austria forum on tertiary education, science and research was attended by Austrian President Heinz Fischer and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan.

The forum was considered an important bridge between the two countries' higher education and science and technology sectors.

Speaking at the event, President Heinz Fischer said he was pleased with the development of bilateral ties in the science and research sector through co-operative agreements between tertiary education and research agencies, as well as the framework of the Austrian Southeast Asian University Partnership Network (ASEA-UNINET) initiated by Austrian universities.

Deputy PM Nhan affirmed that the forum represented the two countries' determination to make tertiary education, science and research a priority in bilateral co-operation.

Viet Nam considered education and science and technology vital for rapid and sustainable development, he said.

In its tertiary education strategy, Viet Nam would improve the quality of higher education by building high-quality universities, strengthening international co-operation in tertiary education and stepping up scientific research at universities, he added.

According to Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan, Viet Nam attaches importance to scientific and technological co-operation with Austria, reflected by the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on scientific and technological co-operation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research in late 2011.

The MoU affirms the two ministries' commitment to creating a mechanism to encourage co-operation between the Vietnamese and Austrian scientific and technological communities, especially between universities and research institutes.

At the forum, the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research officially launched a programme to support bilateral research co-operation between Viet Nam and Austria in the 2012-2025 period.

Under the programme, the two countries' scientific communities will receive financial support to boost joint research co-operation activities and train scientists in the three priority areas of network security, intelligent transport and renewable energy.

During the event, six MoAs were also inked between leading universities of Viet Nam and Austria.

On the same day, Austrian President Heinz Fischer met with Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee Le Hoang Quan, who expressed his belief that the visit would boost multifaceted co-operation between Austria and Viet Nam and between Austria and HCM City in particular.

Read more at http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/politics-laws/225531/vn-austria-boost-tertiary-education.html

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