Vietnam, Thailand beef up sci-tech, educational collaboration

Vietnam, Thailand beef up sci-tech, educational collaboration
Bangkok, February 22 (VNA) - Thailand will further promote sci-tech and education cooperation with Vietnam, including a plan to teach Vietnamese at some local universities, affirmed Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) Anek Laothamatas in a working session with Vietnamese Ambassador Phan Chi Thanh in Bangkok on March 20.

Thanh proposed the minister direct relevant departments to discuss the organisation of the first meeting of the Vietnam-Thailand Joint Committee for Science and Technology Cooperation. He said via the meeting, the sides will agree on contents serving the promotion of their engagements in the time to come and on a mechanism of co-financing joint research cooperation tasks, especially in the fields of digital transformation, green transformation, biotechnology, and automation.

He suggested Thailand support the teaching of the Vietnamese language in Thailand and informed his host that the Hanoi University of Vietnam is building a project to study the establishment of a Vietnamese language and education centre in Thailand.

The diplomat recommended the Thai side help expand the Thai language education programme in Vietnam. Currently, Thailand is assisting five Vietnamese universities in teaching the language, with the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) granting scholarships for Vietnamese lecturers to join training courses in Thailand as well as offering the universities related teaching and learning materials.

He also proposed that the MHESI introduce Thai schools for forming twinning relations with Vietnamese schools, thereby enhancing exchanges of students, teachers and educational administrators at the grassroots level.

Agreeing with Thanh’s proposals, the Thai minister pledged to push for the early organisation of the first meeting and underscored Thailand’s readiness to grant scholarships for Vietnamese students studying sci-tech disciplines in the country, especially concerning the health

The MHESI supports the establishment of the Vietnamese centre and the teaching of Vietnamese at Thai universities. He asked the Vietnamese side to soon decide on the related teaching programme, send experts, and support the training of teachers and lecturers in Thailand./.