The Russian Ministry of Education and Science wishes to expand its education and training cooperation with Vietnam, Minister Dmitry Livanov said in a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Vu Luan in Moscow on October 3.

(photo: vov.vn)

Minister Livanov said educational cooperation played a vital role in bilateral relations, and he affirmed that the Russian ministry attached importance to training Vietnamese undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Approximately 5,000 Vietnamese citizens are pursuing educational degrees and qualifications in Russia, including 2,000 students as part of bilateral educational agreements, he noted.

He said 27 Vietnamese students were currently completing their studies at the Far Eastern Federal University, one of the leading academic institutions in Russia. The government plans to increase the number of Vietnamese students enrolled here to 200, bringing the total of Vietnamese students at Russian universities to 1,000 by 2020.

On his part, Minister Luan thanked Russia for awarding 600 scholarships to Vietnamese students during the 2014-2015 academic year, including 253 scholarships in the field of nuclear sciences. He called for closer cooperation to fulfill the target of 1,000 Vietnamese nationals studying in Russia.

In their meeting, the officials discussed Russia’s extension of credit to Vietnam to establish the Vietnam-Russia University in Hanoi, which is part of a project to popularise Russian culture and the Russian language in Vietnam.

On the same day, the Vietnamese delegation met with Larisa Efremova, Deputy Director of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Minister Luan expressed his hope to consolidate educational cooperation in order to deepen the Vietnamese-Russian ties. He added that as the current President of ASEAN’s Council of the Ministers of Education, Vietnam would actively boost the educational linkages between the bloc and Russia.

Larisa Efremova agreed to help develop educational cooperation between the two countries and announced Russia’s plan to organise a day for former Soviet Union and Russian alumni in Vietnam in 2015.

On October 4, the Moscow State Automobile and Road Technical University bestowed an honourary doctor’s degree upon Minister Luan for his contributions to science and the Russian-Vietnamese relations.

Source: VNA