On the morning of June 22, 2022, a delegation of the US Embassy, Hanoi Vietnam and the University of California, Riverside (UCR), USA had an official working visit to Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA). On this occasion, VNUA and UCR renewed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further strengthen the cooperation between the two sides.
Attending the meeting, on the side of VNUA, there were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Bao Duong, Vice President; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Viet Long, Director, International Cooperation Office and representatives from the Training Management Office, Faculty of Biotechnology, Faculty of Accounting and Business Management. From the US Embassy, there were Mr. Kully Nelson - Acting Commercial Counselor; Ms. Sarah Gilleski - Acting Agriculture Counselor. From the University of California, Riverside, USA, there were Dr. Marko Princevac, Vice Provost of International Affairs; Mr. Jun Wang, Assistant Provost of Strategic Initiatives.
The meeting between VNUA and the US Embassy, Hanoi, Vietnam and the UCR
Speaking at the meeting, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Bao Duong expressed his pleasure to welcome the delegation to the university and affirmed that VNUA is ready to cooperate with partners in the US in general and the UCR in particular. VNUA believes that the expansion and strengthening of exchange and cooperation in training and research are of mutual value for both sides.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Bao Duong, Vice President welcomes the delegation to visit and work at VNUA
Mr. Kully Nelson, Acting Commercial Counselor, thanked the university for the warm welcome, and hereby also wished that VNUA would create favorable conditions to facilitate research cooperation, staff and student exchanges and other forms of scientific and educational cooperation between the two sides. He additionally emphasized that the United States and Vietnam have had an increasingly active and comprehensive cooperative relationship, which has developed into a solid partnership in the fields of politics, economy, security, and exchanges between the two countries. The United States owning a leading education system in the world, a flexible and diverse education system and advanced teaching methods hopes to receive more Vietnamese students especially the ones from VNUA to study and take part in exchange courses.
Dr. Marko Princevac, Vice Provost of International Affairs, briefly introduced his university. The UCR is ranked 12th among all US universities, according to Money Magazine's 2019 rankings and is among the top one percent of universities worldwide according to the World University Rankings Center rankings. The UCR had 26,434 students (in 2020) including 22,678 undergraduates and 3747 graduates and 80 majors.
Delegates from the US Embassy and the UCR
After the working session, VNUA and the UCR signed an extension of the Memorandum of Understanding in order to further strengthen the cooperation between two universities. Before that, the two sides signed the MOU in 2014 and the staff exchange was carried out. In the coming period, cooperative activities in building short-term staff and student exchange programs; developing 3+1, 2+2 training programs in areas where both sides have strengths such as biotechnology, engineering, business administration, finance and management, etc.; building research cooperation programs, publishing international articles are prioritized.
MOU renewal signing ceremony