The Council of University of Science and Technology (USTH), a Vietnamese university established under the Vietnam-France intergovernmental agreement, has adopted its long-term development strategy that looks to contribute towards Vietnam’s socio-technological and economic development.

The USTH Council’s members, from Vietnamese and French sides, talked about the strategy and training orientations during their first ever teleconference that took place at the headquarters of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris on June 25.

The conference linking Paris with Hanoi and southern Tra Vinh province of Vietnam was part of a working visit to France from June 22-27 by a Vietnamese delegation from the Ministry of Education and Training led by its Minister Pham Vu Luan.

The USTH Council’s members also discussed the screening of training programmes and the stepping up of scientific studies and linkages with the industrial circle to turn the university into a leading training centre for scientists and technologists in Vietnam.

Chairing the conference, Minister Luan spoke highly of cooperation between USTH and French universities, saying tertiary education cooperation with France has brought more higher education opportunities abroad for Vietnamese students and helped Vietnam improve its training quality.

Joining the conference from Hanoi, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan emphasised USTH’s role in Vietnam’s tertiary education system, pledging to work with foreign universities, especially those from France and Germany, to produce human resources needed by French and Vietnamese enterprises.

Meanwhile, Genevieve Fioraso, French Minister of Higher Education and Research, stated that USTH is an ambitious and creative project partnered by France and Vietnam.

Under an agreement reached on December 28, 2012 between the two governments, the French side pledged 100 million EUR for USTH within a decade to train 3,000 students by 2020 and 6,000 by 2026.

Established in October 2010, USTH is one of the two outstanding international universities lecturing in English, French and Vietnamese in Vietnam.-VNA