Overview of International Cooperation

            1. International Collaboration Projects

            2. Visitors, Training and Student Exchanges

            3. Foreign Students

Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) is one of the key national universities in Vietnam having the mission of nurturing national high-quality human resources, research and technology and knowledge transfer in the field of agriculture and rural development.. Vietnam National University of Agriculture offers multidisciplinary and multi-level training with 50 Undergraduate programs specializing in 83 majors, 22 Master Programs, and 18 Doctoral Training Programs. The University offers the courses not only in agriculture, fisheries, and veterinary medicine but also in business, economics, management, engineering technology and social sciences. In particular, VNUA has 5 advanced and high-quality training programs taught in English. Since its establishment, the University has trained over 111,000 engineers, bachelors, more than 13,000 masters and more than 650 doctors. Many students and graduates of Vietnam National University of Agriculture have been holding important positions in state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations and enterprises. With various achievements in training and scientific research as well as international cooperation, the University has actively contributed to the development of agriculture and rural areas in Vietnam over the past decades.

The three main tasks of VNUA are education, research and technology transfer. To fulfill the mission to develop the human resources of the agriculture sector assigned by the Party and State, in the past few years, apart from the national funding, VNUA expand its network and partnership with the international and domestic organizations, institutions, and universities. Under the drastic direction and support of MARD – the hosting agency of VNUA, and MOET, together with other state agencies from central to local government organizations, inn 1999 and 2001, VNUA was awarded the Merit for its international cooperation affairs by MOET.

Overview of International Cooperation

Aligning with the foreign policy of the Party and State, especially the Resolution of the Central Committee II on Education, Training, Science and Technology, in recent years, especially from 1998 onwards, the international cooperation activities of VNUA have been very imcreased in terms of quantity, quality and effectiveness over the years, which includes joint research projects, training programs, MOUs, academic exchanges, conferences, workshops, seminars, and meetings, etc.

Signing Memorandum of Understanding with international partners

VNUA has signed Memoranda of  Understanding with nearly 120 universities and research institutes in 25 countries, which has promoted the University's participation in innovative and collaborative projects, joint training programs, staff and student exchanges, etc. Every year, the University sends thousands of officials, lecturers and students to its partner universities for exchange and internships; Meanwhile, VNUA welcomes delegates from many universities and institutions in the world to come for culture and knowledge exchange. In addition, VNUA has attracted many international cooperation programs and projects. The international activities at VNUA are varied, including establishing partnerships with specialized agricultural organizations through information exchange, signing of memorandums of understanding, staff and students exchange, jointly developing and implementing projects, co-organizing international conferences and seminars, etc.

Implementation of international cooperation projects

In the period 2016-2020, the International Cooperation Office has coordinated with relevant units in the University to manage about 50 programs/projects with a total funding estimated to be at about 60 million USD from foreign fund and counterpart fund. This period has seen an increase of 21 projects compared to the period 2012-2015. In particular, the project "Enhancing capacity in science and technology and human resources training to contribute to the National Agricultural Restructuring and New Rural Development” under “Support for autonomous higher education project”  (SAHEP) with a total investment of 54.2 million USD, has officially been implemented since 2019. This is the largest investment project VNUA has ever had, focusing on infrastructure improvement and capacity building for lecturers, researchers, administrative staff in order to improve the quality of training, research and institutional management. The organization, construction, implementation and management of international cooperation programs/projects in the 2016-2020 period is relatively synchronously implemented in the fields of training and scientific research, ensuring the schedule according to the plan. and get good results.

Among international cooperation projects, some notable projects that have brought about synergistic effects on the University are:

+ Strengthen research and teaching capacity for VNUA funded by JICA

+ Research and training cooperation project between VNUA and the Community of French-speaking Universities - Kingdom of Belgium

+ Project with the Australian International Center for Agricultural Research with 2 projects for the Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Economics

+ Projects funded by the Ford Foundation

+ Projects cooperated with Wageningen University Netherlands

+ Project with Danish organization Danida

+ FIRST Project – sponsored by World Bank

+ Vietnam - Ireland Bilateral Education Exchange Project (referred to as VIBE) by the Embassy of Ireland

+ Belgian Government Research and Consultancy Fund (SCF)

+ Project: Enhancing capacity in science and technology and human resources training to contribute to the National Agricultural Restructuring and New Rural Development" under the Project " Support for autonomous higher education project" (SAHEP)

The effectiveness of international relations affair is also demonstrated through annual international scientific conferences/academic exchanges focusing on very urgent fields in Vietnam as well as in the world such as land and water management, agricultural economics and rural development, food security, climate change, etc. These scientific activities have involved many scientists of the University and experts and scientists from many countries in the region and the world. Scientific seminars and thematic activities are good opportunities for staff and lecturers of the University to exchange, learn and publish scientific research results, further enhancing the academic ranking of the University.

2. Visitor, Training and Student Exchange

International cooperation activities in VNUA are diverse and dynamic. Annually, VNUA receives about 100 foreign delegations with about 300 participants from various countries from many countries such as the United State, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, etc. In turns, the number of VNUA's staff going abroad to visit, take part in short-term training, participate in international scientific conferences, and pursue higher education are numerous, approximately 200 persons annually.

In the period 2007-2021, more than 4000 experts, scientists, officials and students from more than 900 international delegations visited a worked and discussed cooperation opportunities with the University.

It is worthy noted that VNUA has carried out annual student exchange programs with several universities including Yunan University (China), Kasetsart University, Suranaree Technology University (Thailand), Tokyo University of Agriculture, Saga University of Agriculture, Ryukus University of Agriculture, Yamagata University and Kagoshima University of Agriculture (Japan) and a summer school course with Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (Czech Republic). In particularly, VNUA has joined the ASEAN International Mobility for Students (AIMS) Program since 2012. Since then, VNUA has been a good destination for students from Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, etc. to come for credit exchange. At the same time, more than 1,000 officials and lecturers were sent abroad to attend conferences, seminars, short and long-term studies, study tours in other countries.

The effectiveness gained from staff exchange and training activities has made a significant contribution to international relations, from initial relationship establishment to efforts to seek and build equal relations through MOU, working minutes, cooperation agreements.

3. Foreign Students

Since 1964 VNUA has been offering undergraduate and graduate training programs for Cambodian and Lao students. Since then, VNUA has accepted 450 Lao students (including 406 bachelors, 34 masters, 10 doctorates), 78 Cambodian students (including 56 bachelors, 13 masters, and 9 doctorates). The number of Lao and Cambodian has increased over the years. In the period 1998 - 2003, there were 23 Cambodian and 6 Laotian students. In the 2007-2011 period, VNUA received and trained 167 Lao and 11 Cambodian students. Currently (2020-2021), the population of international students at the University is diverse with students from many countries: 31 Lao students, 18 Cambodian students, 18 Mozambique students, and many from other countries such as Angola , Japan, Korea, USA.

Full-time foreign students at VNUA

*/ Evaluation of international cooperation results

Curriculum, specialized books, and scientific information are continuously renewed and supplemented thanks to the updated information sources provided by the cooperation projects. Moreover, the staff who received short and long-term training sponsored by the projects have acquired a wide range of knowledge and formed a passionate working attitude, which is a for teaching and research.

VNUA strictly implement the regulations of Party and State on international relation affair. The University complies with the regulations of the relevant agencies such as MARD, MOET, MPI, MPS, Hanoi Department of Immigration, etc., regarding the procedures for submitting international cooperation projects for approval, organize conferences, seminars, professional training, scientific exchange, immigration procedures for incoming and outgoing delegations, extension of visa and residence permit for foreigners... In the course of implementation, VNUA will not allow any mistakes or omission related to international relation affairs.

In summary, over the years, VNUA has successfully completed international cooperation mission, both strengthening internal resources and increasing the reputation of the University among international organizations and universities.

*/ Publications

Through international cooperation activities, VNUA's researchers have had many academic articles published in international high ranking journals or presented in international conferences and workshops. With JICA support, VNUA has its own scientific journal in English and has been so far published 67 volumes both in Vietnamese and English.

*/ Vision and Policy on International Cooperation

- Focus on the effective implementation and management of the available projects/agreements. Utilize the help of foreign organizations, agencies and scientists to expand the network in terms of education cooperation and scientific research via new projects.

- Responsive to the new policies and directives of MARD, MOET, MOST, MPI; keep close connection with the provincial authorities to propose the projects, topics for technology transfer research to utilize the investment from international organizations.

-  Enhance the global integration and improve the quality of education and research activities with up-to-date information and knowledge in the world.

- Continue to promote the training programs in agriculture for Lao and Cambodian students; increase student and staff exchange programs with other academic institutions in the Asian region and in the world.