NEW STUDENT ALUMNI STUDENT STAFF VIETNAMESE

The Visit of Ambassadors of European Union and Member States to Can Tho University

On March 22^nd, 2022, Can Tho University (CTU) was honored to welcome the Ambassador of the European Union to Vietnam, H. E. Mr. Giorgio Aliberti, and the Ambassadors of EU member states including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden. Receiving the delegation was Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phuong, Chairman of the Board of Trustees; Prof. Dr. Ha Thanh Toan, Rector; Prof. Dr. Tran Ngoc Hai, Vice Rector, representatives of leaders of CTU's units, and students.

Welcoming Ambassadors of the European Union and Member States

The meeting taking place at the Rectorate Board Hall, the Administrative Building, Can Tho University

On behalf of the leaders of Can Tho University, Prof. Dr. Ha Thanh Toan, Rector, warmly welcomed the Ambassador delegation. The Rector also gave an overview of Can Tho University, a key national university in the Mekong Delta. With the mission of training, scientific research and technology transfer to promote the sustainable socio-economic development of the region and the whole country, the University focuses on its strengths such as agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries, environment, and technology, playing an important role in the Mekong Delta region by providing high-quality human resources, scientific research to cope with changes and challenges towards sustainable development. Each year, the University has about 300 domestic and international research projects with about 90 billion VND from different sources to support the Mekong Delta.

Prof. Dr. Ha Thanh Toan, Rector of CTU, giving a welcome speech to the Ambassador delegation, introduced an overview of the University and the cooperation relationship between the University and EU partners

Prof. Dr. Tran Ngoc Hai, Vice-Rector, providing information about the Mekong Delta region, CTU's outstanding figures, and the close-knit relationship between the University and EU partners

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Chi Ngon, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees, shared information about the Eramus+ project funded by the EU, a good example of cooperation between CTU and EU partners

The cooperation between CTU and EU partners directly benefits students. Some students took good opportunities to join the mobility program offered by our EU partners. Among them, Ms. Tran Ngoc Khanh Lam, Student of Foreign Languages School - CTU, shared her experience in this program

With the cooperation and support from partners all over the world, especially EU countries so far, the role of the University has been increasingly affirmed. Several noticeable results from cooperation activities are 198 staff members having been sent to EU countries for graduate education (150 graduated) thanks to the Government 's scholarships, support from EU partners, and the University's funding; more than 40 students participating in exchange programs in EU; 193 joint projects with a total budget of about 10 million EUR being implemented from 2015 to the present, of which, some outstanding projects are: Strengthen the production, management, and outreach capacities in the field of Water and Natural resources in South-East Asia; Vietnamese European Knowledge and Technology Transfer Education Consortium (VETEC), Research-based curriculum development in molecular and materials sciences Vietnam (MOMA), Marine Coastal and Delta Sustainability for Southeast Asia (MARE), Program of Network university cooperation for research based education on Bioscience for food in Vietnam.

The University has signed memoranda of understanding with 55 EU universities, institutes, and organizations on cooperation in academic exchange or scientific research implementation, such as CIRAD, IRD (France), GIZ (Germany). Supporting in the Mekong 1000 program with the goal of training scientific staff with postgraduate qualifications abroad for the Mekong Delta region, the University has sent 151 candidates to EU universities. In addition, more and more EU students and lecturing staff have participated in the "Tropical Semester" program of the University to learn and better understanding the economy, culture and environment of the Mekong Delta region.

H. E. Mr. Giorgio Aliberti, Ambassador of the European Union to Vietnam, in his speech

Speaking at the meeting, H. E. Mr. Giorgio Aliberti, Ambassador of the European Union to Vietnam, expressed his pleasure and thanked CTU for the warm welcome. The Ambassador also shared about the growing bilateral cooperation relationship between the EU and Vietnam in all fields, especially under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) in practice. On this occasion, the Ambassadors delegation and CTU's side openly discussed their interested issues such as the impacts of EVFTA to the Mekong Delta region, the relations between CTU and private sector, interest in learning about the EU, perspectives for EU collaboration with CTU in the future, challenges for Mekong Delta region/people, the important role of CTU in the sustainable development of the region, etc.

Discussion at the meeting

At the end of the meeting, CTU's Rector sincerely thanked the Ambassador delegation and wished to keep receiving the strong support of the EU Delegation in expanding the upcoming cooperation relationship between the University and EU partners in technology transfer and higher education. Besides, H. E. Mr. Giorgio Aliberti affirmed that with its strengths, the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam will continue to support, coordinate and promote cooperation relation between two sides in the future, contributing to the sustainable development of the region.