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ASU signs sustainability partnership agreement with Vietnam


ASU and Vietnamese delegation sign MOU
November 08, 2013

ASU hosted a 10-member delegation of senior Vietnamese government and industry officials from the Vinh Phuc Province in Vietnam on Oct. 29 and 30, signing an agreement for a partnership to support sustainable economic growth in the province.

The delegation was led by Phung Quang Hung, chairman of the Vinh Phuc People’s Committee. Under Hung's leadership, Vinh Phus has grown to become one of the seven provinces in Vietnam leading in manufacturing and direct foreign investment development in the country.

The objective of the visit and collaboration is to seek partnership opportunities to support the sustainable growth of the province.  

“Chairman Phung Quang Hung and the leadership of Vinh Phuc Province are thinking deeply about the role of universities and higher education in promoting economic development and growth, and the importance of creating opportunities for real collaboration,” said Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan, senior vice president for ASU’s Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development. “We look forward to advancing our partnership with Vinh Phuc Province and contributing to this ambitious agenda.”

Vinh Phuc Province has maintained 18 percent annual average economic growth from 2007 to 2012. The province’s education and training system also ranks as one of the top five in Vietnam. Hung’s sustainable growth priorities for the province include high-tech development and support for industries, health and education, and human-capacity building.

"As part of our province's growth plan, we are looking for partners in development, especially in the United States. We greatly appreciate the goodwill and assistance the leadership and staff at Arizona State University has accorded to our delegation,” Hung said. “We look forward to working with ASU and the Vietnam Higher Engineering Education Alliance in drawing up a cooperation plan in the field of education and training and other areas of development."  

At ASU, the delegation signed a bi-national partnership memorandum of understanding to develop a working group to define and foster research projects that will initially focus on sustainability and later include biomedical and health systems engineering, professional training program in public policy and capacity building to support the development of technology entrepreneurship and sustainable tourism in the region.  

In addition to meetings at ASU, the delegation visited local industry, city and state government leaders to explore trade opportunities. The bi-national working group will meet in Vinh Phuc later this year to develop initial collaborative projects.