Reception of the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Vietnam
Overview of the meeting
The purpose of the meeting is to enhance and expand the fields of cooperation between Vietnam and Korea through science and technology and innovation; exchange and discuss information on the support of the Korean Government through ODA projects in Vietnam in the field of science and technology and innovation after the official visit to Vietnam by the President of the Republic of Korea in 2023.
At the meeting, Prof. Acad. Chau Van Minh highly appreciated the comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Korea: the two countries' relations have made great progress with important milestones, from the Comprehensive Partnership in 2001 to the Strategic Partnership in 2009 and the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022, and the visit of the President of the Republic of Korea to Vietnam last 6 months has created momentum for cooperation activities between the two sides to deploy synchronously and quickly. In the past period, Korea has supported Vietnam to train high-quality human resources, access to the international science and technology environment; and promote the transfer of Korea's strengths such as materials, electronics, telecommunications, information technology, pharmaceutical and biological chemical technology.
Prof. Acad. Chau Van Minh emphasized that VAST is the leading scientific and technological research and development agency in Vietnam, directly under the Government. In recent years, VAST has implemented many cooperation activities with many Korean units from Korean research institutes, businesses and universities; especially with the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) to coordinate the selection of bilateral research projects. In 2022, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Korea and 10 years of cooperation, VAST and NRF organized a workshop to evaluate activities and agreed to promote the construction and implementation of large projects at the national scale. In addition, VAST has had many collaborations with the Korea Biotechnology and Biotechnology Research Institute (KRIBB) and some famous universities in Korea, developing studies to find bioactive compounds that have the potential to develop into drugs and biofuels. VAST development strategy to 2030, vision to 2045 has been approved by the Government with the view of becoming a strong science and technology center, contributing to the development of science and technology and socio-economy in Vietnam and training high-level science and innovation resources. The development orientations in the Strategy have many similarities with the desire to implement cooperation with Korea.
Prof. Acad. Chau Van Minh - President of VAST and Mr. Choi Youngsam - Ambassador, at the meeting
At the meeting, VAST proposed a number of potential cooperations with Korea in the fields of high-tech science such as space technology, research on rare earths, radioactive elements, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, digital transformation and pharmaceutical chemistry. Prof. Acad. Chau Van Minh said that during the working session on 09/01/2024 together with KOICA's delegation of experts, the two sides also exchanged information about the Korean Government's commitment to support through ODA projects in Vietnam in the field of science and technology and innovation and the VAST side also proposed potential cooperation areas for these ODA projects to the delegation of experts KOICA. Therefore, Prof. Acad. Chau Van Minh expressed his hope that the Ambassador would support the proposals of VAST and support the connection and promotion of cooperation between VAST and Korean researchers, businesses and universities, so that VAST can continue to exploit its inherent strengths of cooperation and expand new areas of cooperation such as digital transformation and innovation in the coming time.
Speaking at the meeting, Ambassador Choi Youngsam said that in recent years, the cooperation relationship between Vietnam and Korea has mainly focused on traditional manufacturing fields. In the future, Korea wishes to strengthen and expand cooperation with Vietnam in the fields of science and technology, including not only further expanding the inherent joint research cooperation projects of the two countries, but also opening up new cooperation projects in the field of high-tech science such as digital transformation, clean energy and , renewable energy... At the same time, in order to enhance high-quality human resources for Vietnam, the Korean side will also provide more scholarship programs and create more conditions for Vietnamese students and researchers to study and research in Korea. Ambassador Choi Youngsam pledged to be willing to bridge and support the cooperation between VAST and Korean agencies, research units and businesses in joint research of mutual interest, thereby contributing to further tightening the good traditional cooperation relationship of the two countries.
Taking photo
Translated by Phuong Ha
Link to Vietnamese version
