A delegation of the Association of Vietnamese Citizens in Russia, headed by Chairman Do Xuan Hoang, visited St. Petersburg Mining University on a working visit. During the meeting with Rector Vladimir Litvinenko, the parties discussed the prospects of cooperation between the higher schools of the two countries.
Do Xuan Hoang is the founder of the brand "Rolton" and CEO of "Mareven Food Central", which produces fast food products in the CIS countries. Chairman of the Board of the Foundation "Traditions and Friendship", the main purpose of which is to promote the development of Russian-Vietnamese cooperation.
During the Soviet times our country was the largest trade partner of Vietnam. In the mid-1980s the Soviet Union accounted for 64% of the total foreign trade of the Socialist Republic. Moscow made a great contribution to the creation of its air fleet, construction of the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh Highway, modernization of rail transport, as well as increased efficiency in the development of natural resources.
Among the projects implemented with the active participation of domestic engineers - Hoa Binh hydropower plant, which has long been the largest hydroelectric power plant in Southeast Asia, numerous coal mines, and the joint venture "Vietsovpetro" for oil and gas production on the continental shelf in the South China Sea.
How realistic is it for our countries to reach the previous level of cooperation? And how would that be possible? After all, on the one hand the Vietnamese economy is growing rapidly, but on the other hand, Russia today is not even in the top ten major trading partners of Hanoi. The U.S., China, South Korea and Japan have left us far behind.
According to the guests of the Mining University, who happen to speak excellent Russian, the situation can be changed through "people-to-people diplomacy," that is, the development of horizontal ties. In particular, the growth of academic mobility and the creation of joint research teams.
"We obviously lack academic cooperation, as we did in previous years. Today we are convinced that St. Petersburg Mining University is a very promising partner for universities in Vietnam. For example, for Hanoi University of Mining and Technology. I am sure that cooperation between these two universities can be mutually beneficial," said Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hung, Deputy Chairman of the Association of Vietnamese Citizens in Russia.
The head of the delegation, Mr. Do Xuan Hoang, at his meeting with Rector Vladimir Litvinenko, did not hide his admiration for the infrastructure of Russia's oldest technical university. He especially emphasized that its leadership "has managed to preserve its rich historical traditions and at the same time create a modern material base of the highest level."
"I have visited many universities, and not only in Russia, but what I have seen here is truly amazing. This is something special," said Do Xuan Hoang.
Vladimir Litvinenko thanked him for his high appreciation and said that the University of Mines had once worked with a number of Vietnamese companies. Including Vinacomin Coal Corporation and Vietsovpetro. However, the joint projects were more of a one-time nature, and lacked a strategic scale.
"We are interested in having a basic partner to create a collaboration in several directions at once. This is a joint educational programs, and research activities and organization of the Russian-Vietnamese forum of raw materials, in which scientists, businessmen and politicians of the two countries could find common interests and establish mutually beneficial cooperation", - said Vladimir Litvinenko.
It should be noted that today 20 students from Vietnam study at St. Petersburg Mining University.
