Develop a specific cooperation plan between Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and Lao Ministry of Technology and Communications; report to Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on results of Second Bilateral Meeting

Minister Boviengkham Vongdara and the delegation took souvenir photos at the meeting with USTH

At the meeting with University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH), Dr. Padapxay Xayakhot, Deputy Director of Lao Institute of Information and Communication Technology, gave a specific introduction about the organizational structure and training needs of the Institute today. The members of the delegation also exchanged clarifications about the training disciplines at the university's Faculty of Information and Communication Technology; propose the conditions for entrance selection and consideration for scholarships of USTH for the staff of the Academy. Prof. Jean-Marc Lavest – Rector of USTH, introduced to the Minister and the delegation about USTH's training, research and international cooperation activities and reviewed the achievements of the university in 13 years of construction and development. The professor also shared more about the university's development plan in the coming time with the determination to make USTH an excellent university in training and scientific and technological research in Vietnam and in the region, becoming a place to attract young talents in the region, including young talents from Laos to study and research. Speaking at the meeting, Minister Boviengkham Vongdara expressed his pleasure when visiting USTH: "We have learned about USTH's reputation and congratulate the development of the school over the past 13 years". Sharing his views on the importance of human resource building, Minister Boviengkham Vongdara hoped USTH would support the Ministry of IT to train staff in the field of Information and Communication Technology. The Minister hoped that USTH and the Institute of Information and Communication Technology would quickly implement the contents of the signed cooperation agreement, and at the same time believed that with the spirit of solidarity and mutual support between the two sides will achieve many good results in the future.  

Photos of the meeting with Institute of Information Technology

In his report to the Minister and the delegation, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Truong Thang, – Director of the Institute of Information Technology (Institute of IT), has focused on the unit's strengths in technical infrastructure of data storage, cloud computing and supercomputing in artificial intelligence; High quality human resources in scientific research, technology development and application deployment – digital transformation in the past period. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Truong Thang said that with the available strengths and potentials, the Institute of IT has many opportunities to cooperate in technology development, deploy applications for related technologies, effectively serving the tasks of the Ministry of IT and the cause of digital transformation in Laos. The results that the Institute of IT achieved from researching scientific foundations of advanced techniques in artificial intelligence, big data; to the development of related technologies such as cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain are key digital technologies in Industry 4.0 that the Ministry of IT is undertaking. Minister Boviengkham Vongdara highly appreciated the technical infrastructure and human resources at VAST in general and the Institute of IT in particular. Implementing the Lao National Digital Transformation Strategy is a priority task of the Ministry in the coming period and looks forward to the active participation of Institute of Information Technology in the application and deployment of digital technologies for central ministries of Laos. Specifically, according to the proposed task under the cooperation framework between VAST and MTC signed in July 2022, the construction of the project "National Center for Big Data/Cloud Computing and applications in the field of health and education" is a necessary task ahead. In association with other tasks that the Institute of Information Technology is supporting central ministries and agencies to help their respective agencies in Laos, in the upcoming business trips of the Institute of Information Technology in Laos, the Minister will arrange leaders of relevant ministries such as Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education to work together in the overall coordination to implement digital transformation in your country. In addition, under the direction of the Minister, the Ministry of IT has many other projects in the Digital Transformation Strategy that need the participation of the Institute of Information Technology.

Minister Boviengkham Vongdara and his delegation visit equipment at Institute of Geophysics

At the meeting, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Anh, Director of the Institute of Geophysics, introduced to the Minister and the working delegation the National Center for Earthquake Information and Tsunami Warning under the charge of Institute of Geophysics, including the process of earthquake warning and reporting; and monitoring process of hydropower projects in Vietnam. Models of earthquake monitoring station construction were also introduced by Institute of Geophysics to units under the Ministry of IT. According to the minister, earthquake monitoring and building a database on natural disasters are essential for building a digital government of Laos. With the recent development of energy projects in Laos as well as the geographical location of Vietnam and Laos, this project needs to be implemented quickly in the near future. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Anh said that Institute of Geophysics is honored to work with the Minister and committed to try to implement as quickly as possible the Minister's direction to complete the outline of the project to build an Earthquake Data Center as just signed with the Institute of Intelligent Research and Application of the Lao Ministry of IT. 

President Chau Van Minh and Minister Boviengkham Vongdara report to Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha at the Government Office headquarters. Photo: VGP

The work results of the Second Bilateral Meeting and the implementation activities in the subordinate units were approved by Prof. Acad. Chau Van Minh, President of VAST and Minister Boviengkham Vongdara reports to Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha at the Government Office headquarters on May 29, 2023. The Deputy Prime Minister welcomed the close coordination between the two sides as well as the agreements on cooperation in training and construction of earthquake data centers recently signed between VAST and Lao Ministry of IT and hoped that the two sides would actively promote cooperation and technology transfer for the two countries to jointly implement digital transformation, green transition as soon as possible. The Deputy Prime Minister said that for developing countries such as Vietnam and Laos, the grasp of technology and digital transformation in the fields would be an important factor to catch up with other developed countries. In recent years, the field of information technology and digital transformation in Laos has made many positive strides; The Deputy Prime Minister expressed his belief that in the coming time, Ministry of IT will further promote so that Laos can form an effective information and communication technology system, helping people benefit from the digital government and digital economy to replace the depleted natural resource-based development model. In order to implement this content, the Deputy Prime Minister said that human resources are an extremely important factor and suggested that Ministry of IT needs to identify specific training needs, coordinate with VAST to develop a Government-level project to realize this goal.

Minister Boviengkham Vongdara appreciated the good feelings that Vietnam has shown Laos in general and the cooperation that VAST has made with former Lao Ministry of Technology and Science and the current Lao Ministry of Technology and Communications. The contents of the minutes of the 2nd bilateral meeting between the two sides have been planned by subordinate units and hoped to have many good results to report to the two Governments. Technology development and digital transformation are very important tasks that the Ministry of IT will need the cooperation of VAST or Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam to complete. Minister Boviengkham Vongdara hoped that with the support of the Government of Vietnam, cooperation activities between the two sides would be carried out effectively, accompanying on the path of renovation and contributing to cultivating the long-term traditional friendship between Vietnam and Laos.

The delegation of VAST and the delegation of Ministry of IT took souvenir photos at the end of the report to the Deputy Prime Minister 

Translated by Phuong Ha
Link to Vietnamese version