Vietnam is a tropical agricultural country, with many famous agricultural products for export. The agricultural sector plays an important role in Vietnam, contributing 18.14% to the national GDP, providing livelihoods for 41% of the workforce. The sector is facing many challenges which lead to reductions in agricultural output and value. These challenges can be addressed by building the capacity of lecturers, researchers, and business men and labor force to ensure that they have sufficient skills, capacities and approaches to sustainable agricultural development as well as better food security.

The VIBE Project funded by the Irish Development Cooperation Agency (Irish Aid) and implemented by the cooperation of the Irish Embassy, the Faculty of Accounting and Business Administration and the Faculty of Food Technology - Vietnam University of Agriculture (VNUA) and University of Cork (UCC) from 2015 to 2017, obtained the following remarkable results:

 

Consulting stakeholders on the needs of the Technology and Food Business Training Program

 

- VNUA successfully built a new university training program called Food Technology and Business and enrolled 4 courses with a total enrollment of more than 400 students.

- The capacity of VNUA’s researchers and lecturers was enhanced through visiting and learning experiences from Irish dairy companies and businesses.

- Teagasc and UCC were willing to cooperate and support VNUA in future research programs.

- There were 02 VNUA bachelors studying the master's course in Food Business at UCC from the beginning of September 2018.

- VNUA also connected with Vietnamese companies to promote cooperation in research and development of new products to meet the needs of Vietnamese consumers.

 

Presentation by Dr. O'Brien (Teagasc Group, Ireland) on food safety management experience in Ireland

 

These results of the VIBE project contributed to the development of VNUA and fostered mutual cooperation between VNUA, UCC and other Irish partners. Within the framework of tripartite cooperation, the IDEAS 2020.01 project has been contributing to promoting and improving the capacity of innovation and food safety for Vietnamese lecturers and researchers through training activities and collaboration in a joint research program with UCC and Teagasc on dairy products as a case study; promoting the exchange of lecturers/researchers between VNUA and its Irish partners; and promoting the linkages between Vietnamese private enterprises and farms with Irish companies/markets regarding food safety in general and dairy products in particular.