PANO - The Education New Zealand and the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training co-hosted a New Zealand-Vietnam education forum, the second of its kind, on August 5th in Hanoi.

Attending the event were New Zealand’s Minister of Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Steven Joyce, Vietnam’s Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan, education officials, scholars and representatives from twelve well-known universities and institutions from the two countries.

The two ministers sign a revised Education Cooperation Arrangement on the two countries’ education cooperation.

Addressing the forum, Mr Joyce stressed that the forum opens a new path in the two countries’ education cooperation. He expressed his hope to see the continuous growth of the relationship.

The New Zealand Minister also laid stress on the high quality and innovative education system, considering it vital for a nation’s ongoing development.

For his part, Vietnamese Minister Pham Vu Luan also emphasized the important role of education in training human resources to serve the industrialization and socio-economic development of each country.

At the forum, the two countries’ ministries and education experts discussed and worked out a strategy to step up the cooperation and improve the education quality of the two countries.

As part of the forum, there took place a signing ceremony of a revised Education Cooperation Arrangement on the two countries’ education cooperation. The arrangement will provide a framework for cooperation and sharing of experiences on education for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

Under this arrangement, New Zealand is hoped to welcome more Vietnamese students studying in the country and in New Zealand programs and to provide a foundation to build up and strengthen connections with Vietnam’s universities. Meanwhile, the quality of education in Vietnam is hoped to be improved much via this cooperation.

Another agreement on cooperation between New Zealand’s Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and Quang Ninh province was also signed at the forum. More personnel from Quang Ninh province are hoped to travel to AUT to study language, tourism, business and management.

The forum is part of activities in celebration of the 40 years of Vietnam-New Zealand’s diplomatic ties (1975-2015).

Viet Anh