A delegation from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT), led by its President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mai Thanh Phong paid a working visit to academic partners in the Republic of Korea (RoK) from May 17 – 23, 2024.
The delegation arrived in Seoul (RoK) on May 18, 2024 morning, and had their first working day at Kwangwoon University. The morning session began with attending the 90th anniversary of the Kwangwoon Foundation, which supports the operations of Kwangwoon University, followed by a discussion with professors from this university on student and lecturer exchange programs and joint research.
The afternoon of the first day saw the delegation tour to Hanyang University, (ranked among the top 10 universities in RoK). During this meeting, HCMUT and Hanyang University signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at both university and faculty levels for HCMUT’s Faculties of Materials Technology, Chemical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering, and Hanyang University’s Faculties of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering. Accordingly, both partners have committed to collaborating in student and lecturer exchanges, joint research, and co-host conferences/meetings to share research results.
HCMUT’s delegation continued its second day to Busan City, where it toured Pukyong National University and attended the Forum for Asian Universities the following day. That evening, the delegation accepted the invitation to an informal dinner with the President of Pukyong National University Dr. Young-soo Jang.
The third working day of the delegation began with participating in the mentioned forum. Besides HCMUT, the forum also welcomed presidents of Hokkaido University, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (Japan), IPB University (Indonesia), and Kasetsart University (Thailand). Each university representative took 10 minutes to deliver a speech before the discussion regarding the Asian universities’s adaptation to basic social changes began.
In his speech, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mai Thanh Phong, HCMUT’s President, talked about internationalising higher education, mentioning both achievements and challenges when adopting the internationalisation policy in HCMUT to shift from ‘outside’ to ‘inside’ after the effective date of the autonomy mechanism here in 2021. This shift is considered inevitable in higher education because of strong globalisation and international integration.
The delegation ended the trip successfully and returned to Vietnam on May 23, 2024, bringing back several cooperation opportunities in training and research with its partners in RoK.
Some pictures of the trip:
