President of HUST attended the Vietnam-Hungary Higher Education Cooperation Forum in Budapest

Within the framework of the official visit to Hungary, on the afternoon of June 27 (local time), in Budapest, the Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam, Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue attended the Vietnam - Hungary Education Cooperation Forum. The forum showed the spirit of willingness and desire to cooperate, opportunities and orientations for open cooperation in the coming time, focusing on a number of fields in medicine, pharmacy, basic science, and agriculture, digital transformation, and exchange of lecturers/students.

Attending the event, on the Vietnamese side, there were Mr. Le Van Thanh - Deputy Prime Minister; Mr. Nguyen Kim Son - Minister of Education and Training; Mr. Bui Van Cuong - Secretary General of National Assembly, Chairman of the Office of the National Assembly; Mr. Vu Hai Ha - Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee; Mr. Nguyen Dac Vinh - chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Adolescents; Mr. Ha Kim Ngoc - Deputy Foreign Minister; Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Thao - Vietnamese Ambassador to Hungary and representatives from several universities across the country, including Assoc. Prof. Huynh Quyet Thang - President of Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

On the Hungarian side, there were Mr. Balazs Hanko - Secretary of State of the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Innovation; Prof. László Borhy - President of the Association of Hungarian Universities and Colleges.

In his welcome speech, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh emphasized: Despite the geographical distance, Vietnam and Hungary are two countries with many similarities in cultural and historical traditions. 

Vietnam and Hungary established diplomatic relations on February 3, 1950 and lifted their ties to a comprehensive partnership on the occasion of a visit by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to the European nation in 2018.

Over 72 years of cooperation and development, the two countries have achieved important and outstanding achievements in all fields, especially in the field of education and training between Vietnam and Hungary. The agreement on educational cooperation between the Governments of Hungary and Vietnam in 2013 is a clear demonstration of the commitments to promote educational cooperation between the two sides. 

Assoc. Prof.  Huynh Quyet Thang (2nd from left) took photos with Hungary delegates from Obuda University attending the Forum.

Currently, there are more than 600 Vietnamese students studying and working in Hungary, and the latter grants 200 scholarships to Vietnam each year, Deputy Prime Minister added. To date, Hungary has trained more than 4,000 international students for Vietnam with qualifications in science, technology, economic management and other fields, many have become key leaders in the political system of Vietnam, scientists in research institutions, universities, successful businessmen in various fields.

The Deputy Prime Minister shared “Vietnam is a country with approximately 100 million people, currently in the golden age of population; and always consider education - training as the top national policy. Over the years, Vietnam has paid special attention to developing and perfecting mechanisms and policies and prioritizing investment resources for education and training.

According to USNEWS's ranking of the best countries for education in 2021, Vietnam ranks 59th, up 5 places compared to 2020. In 2022, there are a wide range of Vietnamese universities ranked in the world's 1,000 best universities in many prestigious rankings with educational cooperation relations established with more than 100 countries and territories. 

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, with this visit and cooperation agreements signed for the next phase, new prospects in bilateral relations are opened which aims at raising bilateral parliamentary cooperation to new heights. Also, he added “In the immediate future, universities of Vietnam and Hungary need implement effectively all the signed agreements on education”.

Hungary has strengths in training fields such as medicine, electronics, energy, literature and arts, especially in high-tech agriculture, agro-processing industry, and law, Deputy Prime Minister said, adding that Vietnam has a high demand for human resources in this regard for the country's renewal process.

Assoc. Prof. Huynh Quyet Thang (5th from left) and Vietnamese delegations

Prof. Dr. László Borhy - President of the Association of Hungarian Universities and Colleges affirmed that Hungary's representative agencies at home and abroad, the Association of Hungarian Universities and Colleges attach great importance to cooperation with international universities to promote cooperative relations.

At the forum, representatives of Vietnamese and Hungarian universities delivered presentations on a number of topics such as digital transformation in higher education, cooperation in medicine and pharmacy between Vietnam and Hungary, digitization as well as promoting international collaboration in Hungarian universities.

The Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam believes that cooperation in the fields of education, training and scientific research between the two countries will enter a new stage of development.

Assoc. Prof.  Huynh Quyet Thang and the representative of Obuda University exchange the signed memorandum of understanding.

At the forum, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, and leaders of relevant agencies of Vietnam and Hungary witnessed the awarding ceremony of nine Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) for cooperation between the universities of the two countries.

List of the universities as follows: Hanoi University of Science and Technology with Obuda University; Hanoi National University with Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Szeged University; National Economics University with Obuda University; University of Mining and Geology with Obuda University; Ho Chi Minh University of Medicine and Pharmacy with Semmelweis University; Ho Chi Minh City Open University with Corvinus University, Budapest; Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology with Eötvös Loránd University; National Economics University with Eötvös Loránd University.

EAO - HUST