The UK’s Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) and the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam on Oct 25 signed a Memorandum of Understanding in London aimed at promoting cooperation in a wide range of areas between the two think-tanks.

Under the MoU, the two organisations agreed to boost intellectual and educational exchanges and enhance cooperation between them in the areas of defence, security and international affairs. These include activities to be taken in research, teaching, seminars and other academic events.

The two think-tanks also agreed to organise dialogues between their leaderships and other relevant academic entities from the two countries; collaborate in research projects and publication of studies on defence, security, international affairs and other issues of common interests; and establish a dialogue mechanism between RUSI and relevant academic entities of Vietnam.

RUSI Director Michael Clarke said he was so pleased to be at the signing ceremony to create a framework in which the two think-tanks could do a lot more together. “This framework allows us to bring our experts together, experts in London to experts in Hanoi to produce some genuinely new ideas that we can take them to the world community. So I am delighted that we have got the first step undertaken which we can then develop much further as time goes on,” he said.

The director of DAV's Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, Hoang Anh Tuan said that this MoU not only helps promote the cooperation between DAV and RUSI but also elevates the strategic partnership between Vietnam and the UK which was signed in September last year./.