Seeking cooperation opportunities with Central Philippine University

On June 11, 2019, Vice President, Prof. Dr. Pham Van Cuong together with representatives from Faculty of Economics and Rural Development, Faculty of Accounting and Business Management, Faculty of Engineering, Training Management Office, and International Cooperation Office on behalf of Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) welcomed a delegation of the Central Philippine University (CPU) led by Dr. Irving Rio, Vice President for Academic Affairs to visit VNUA to discuss collaboration opportunities between VNUA and CPU.

At the meeting, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, Director of the International Cooperation Office, introduced the history as well as the training programs of the university; while the representative of CPU also gave a brief introduction on CPU and expressed their wish to seek for cooperation opportunities in training and research between the two universities.

Established in 1905 in Haro, Iloilo, Philippines, CPU is among the top 20 leading universities in Philippines and among a few universities in Philippines which provide training in agriculture-related majors. Now, the university has about 13,000 students in total, with the majority of its training programs meeting international standards.

Based on the strengths of CPU as well as Philippine education system, Vice President Pham Van Cuong and representatives of related faculties proposed exchange programs for VNUA’s staff, lecturers and students, especially PhD students. Currently, in Vietnam, the pressure on PhD students to publish on international journals is increasing. With a long history in training of CPU, especially doctoral training, Prof. Dr. Pham Van Cuong believes that VNUA’s PhD students will be provided with a lot of supports in enhancing needed skills for scientific research and academic writing. In addition, CPU will also offer VNUA’s young lecturers chances to visit CPU as visiting lecturers.

Moreover, the two universities also agree to cooperate in developing short-term exchange programs for staff and students with a focus on soft skills as well as various internship programs for their students. Hopefully, after this visit, the two parties will develop detailed cooperation programs in training and research so as to promote the strengths of VNUA and CPU.