Vietnam Minister strengthens RMIT links

RMIT University's strong links with Vietnam were underlined by a visit by Vice-Foreign Minister, Dr Nguyen Thanh Son.

The Minister, who is also Chair of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, was accompanied by a delegation including Hoang Vinh Thanh, the Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia.

They began their visit with a discussion with members of the Asian Management Research Cluster in RMIT's College of Business on research possibilities in Vietnam.

The Minister then met key University leaders, including Professor Margaret Gardner AO, Vice-Chancellor and President; Stephen Connelly, Deputy Vice-Chancellor International and Development and Vice-President; and Professor Peter Coloe, Pro Vice-Chancellor Science, Engineering and Health and Vice-President.

He told them that his government was interested in promoting long-term cooperation between RMIT and the people of Vietnam.

RMIT had an excellent reputation in Vietnam, he said, and hoped that RMIT would expand its presence there.

Professor Gardner welcomed the Minister and his delegation.

"RMIT has significant relations with the Government of Vietnam, which invited RMIT to establish Vietnam's first international university campus, RMIT Vietnam, which opened in 2001," she said.

"RMIT is committed to developing the human resources of Vietnam through education and training, making RMIT a major stakeholder in the economic and educational future of this rapidly emerging economy."

RMIT Vietnam has two campuses, Saigon South (Ho Chi Minh City) and Hanoi, with 5,228 students in higher education and 889 in English language programs.

It runs programs in IT, multimedia systems, education, business, accountancy, economics, and marketing and communication, with new Master programs in computer and electronic engineering. The two campuses also host research projects.

The Minister then spent time with some of the 485 Vietnamese students enrolled with RMIT in Melbourne.

The other members of his delegation were Nguyen Quoc Huy, Counsellor with the Vietnamese Embassy in Canberra; Nguyen Mạnh Cuong, Deputy Director General, Research Department, State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Le Duc Trung, Assistant Director General, Department of Culture and Information, State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Nguyen Tien Dung, Personal Secretary to the Minister.

Professor Xinghuo Yu, Director, Platform Technologies Research Institute; Dr Ngan Collins, Coordinator, Asian Management Research Cluster, School of Management; Professor Peter Coloe, Pro Vice-Chancellor Science, Engineering and Health and Vice-President; Professor Margaret Gardner AO, Vice-Chancellor and President; Dr Nguyen Thanh Son, Vice-Foreign Minister; Hoang Vinh Thanh, the Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia; and Stephen Connelly, Deputy Vice-Chancellor International and Development and Vice-President.

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