President Hollande talks to Vietnamese students

Hanoi (VNA) – French President Francois Hollande talked to students at the Vietnam National University-Hanoi (VNU-Hanoi) on September 6 during his State visit to Vietnam from September 5-7.

Addressing an audience of lecturers and students, President Hollande stressed that France and Vietnam have a time-honoured relationship with some tragic periods, but the two countries have left the past behind and built cooperative ties for mutual development.

He noted that terrorism is no longer an issue of any single country but a global one, and France has also become a victim of many terror acts recently.

The President thanked Vietnam for sharing sympathy with French people during times of difficulty, and stated that countries must unite to ensure global security.

When disputes arise, they should be solved through peaceful dialogues and negotiations, Hollande said, adding that France and Vietnam both want to address disputes in peace, which is a common point of the two countries.

Therefore, France will support Vietnam in peacekeeping activities, as Vietnam is making active contributions to the United Nations’ peacekeeping missions, he said.

Regarding economic development, the French President appreciated Vietnam’s door-opening policy, saying that the country has been able to make use of its advantages for development while preserving the national culture.

He, however, recommended that Vietnam also needs to develop hi-tech industries, and pledged that France will continue to share advanced technologies with Vietnam.

The President expressed hope that more Vietnamese students will choose France to study, saying that promoting links between the two countries’ universities and the teaching of French in Vietnamese universities will provide more opportunities for Vietnamese students to pursue higher education in France.

President of the VNU-Hanoi Nguyen Kim Son said the VNU-Hanoi has established and maintained cooperative ties with many French partners, including Ecole Polytechnique, University of Nantes and Paris-Sud University. The university also actively participates in multilateral cooperative mechanisms and programmes in the framework of the Francophone Community and the Francophone University Agency (AUF).

The partnership between the VNU-Hanoi and French partners has a firm foundation which is the historical ties of the university and France, and the VNU-Hanoi will make more efforts to strengthen this special linkage.

The VNU-Hanoi has its predecessor as the Dong Duong (Indochina) University, which was the first western style tertiary education model in Indochina established by the French in 1906. It is now a leading training and research establishment in Vietnam.

On the occasion of President Hollande’s visit, the VNU-Hanoi and the Ecole Polytechnique signed an agreement to boost their partnership in high quality training.-VNA