WASHINGTON (VNS)— President Truong Tan Sang wrapped up his official visit to the US with meetings with educators and economic researchers, war veterans of both countries and Vietnamese expatriates.
During discussions with leaders of the Vietnam Education Foundation and representatives of several US universities on Friday, Sang said education was one of the main priorities for co-operation between Viet Nam and the US since re-establishing diplomatic ties in 1995.
Together with effective ongoing programmes such as Fulbright and the Higher Engineering Education Alliance Programme, both sides had implemented a wide range of initiatives to tap their education-training potential, he said.
The number of Vietnamese students pursuing education in the US has grown fivefold to 15,000 over the past decade, earning Viet Nam the first place in Southeast Asia and eighth globally in terms of enrollments.
The establishment of the Viet Nam-US comprehensive partnership during his visit would create a new framework that drives up bilateral ties, including education, the leader said.
According to Sang, Viet Nam deemed education the top national policy in its path of national industrialisation and modernisation, adding that the US was its leading partner in tertiary education.
He called on US educational leaders to make more efforts to strengthen tertiary education co-operation with Viet Nam as it plays an important role in developing human resources – a decisive factor for development.
During the meeting, the US participants agreed to develop concrete initiatives for the training of Vietnamese students in the US, building of universities in Viet Nam and improvement of educational co-operation mechanisms between the two nations.
VEF has said it will finance Viet Nam PhD graduates in the US to prepare for their return and employment in Viet Nam. Each recipient will get US$2,000 during the first five years, and a five fold increase in the following years to prepare for research and work in Viet Nam.
While meeting with Vietnamese and US war veterans, Sang said Viet Nam was no longer a country of war but a beautiful and peaceful nation with a fair, democratic and civilised society.
Over the past years, Vietnamese veterans and their families had received better care and support from the Government and they themselves had continued to make active contributions to national construction and defence, he said.
He added that in its foreign policy of multilateralising and diversifying relations alongside comprehensive global integration, Viet Nam was continuously strengthening all-round links with the US, not only at Government and State levels, but also through people-to-people exchanges, including those of war veterans.
The President hailed the role of American ex-servicemen in healing the wounds left by the war, as well as actively contributing to removing the embargo and normalising Viet Nam-US relations in the past. He also praised the current enhancement of friendship and co-operation between the two nations aided by the servicemen.
Many of them had returned to Viet Nam and to undergo volunteer project, especially in surmounting the aftermath of Agent Orange/dioxin, bomb and mine clearance and community assistance, he noted.
He thanked US veterans for their sentiments and contributions to Viet Nam, expressing his hope they would provide the country with continued support and assistance in the coming time.
At the meeting with Vietnamese expatriates and students, Sang informed them of Viet Nam’s current situation and its determination to pursue the renewal process, active and proactive international integration, as well as ceaselessly strengthening Viet Nam-US relations and the Vietnamese community’s connectivity in the US.
He praised efforts and contributions made by overseas Vietnamese in the US, hoping they would continue serving as a catalyst for Viet Nam-US relations to flourish.
Sang also met former US President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, in New York on Thursday.
He informed them of the outcomes of his talks with President Barack Obama during which the two sides pledged to establish a bilateral comprehensive partnership and thanked the couple for their contributions to the outcome.
The Clintons stressed that the new partnership framework was significant to not only the development of bilateral ties, but also to the region and beyond.
They said they believed the US would continue to be a good friend and partner of Viet Nam and the two sides would keep working together for peace, stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region.
They added that they still offered support to Viet Nam via Clinton Global Initiative activities.—VNS
Đăng ký: VietNam News