Attending the meeting were Prof. Duncan Ivision – Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney; Head of International Research and Development Division, and representatives from such schools and faculties as Business, Agriculture, Arts and Humanities.

From VNU’s side, there were representatives from functional departments and affiliates including University of Economics and Business, University of Technology and Engineering and School of Medicine and Pharmacy.

VNU Vice President Nguyen Hong Son

The University of Sydney has been in a close partnership with VNU University of Economics and Business. The two universities coordinated the implementation of the Project "Building female entrepreneurial skills for small and medium enterprises in Asian countries" from 2011 - 2013 under the sponsorship of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The University of Sydney also co-hosted the Genesis Start-up Contest in 2016 and 2017 for students of VNU University of Economics and Business. Annually, VNU University of Economics and Business together with the University of Sydney organizes a profound study program on social enterprises (Scaling social enterprises in Vietnam) for students from the University of Sydney. This is an important platform for VNU and the University of Sydney to enhance their cooperation in other areas.

At the meeting, University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor Prof. Duncan Ivision expressed his desire to learn more about research activities and research focuses of VNU to look for further cooperation opportunities.

Representatives of VNU’s affiliates introduced the fields that they wish to cooperate with the University of Sydney, namely startup programs, globalization and social impacts, sustainability... Especially, in order for students to have greater access to reality, VNU affiliates all expected frequent students exchanges between the two universities. These affiliates, with the advantage of having close connection with the industry in Vietnam, will provide students from the University of Sydney with the opportunity to better understand the Vietnamese economy. Prof. Duncan Ivision welcomed the proposal and suggested that the two sides soon implement the cooperation, as one of the University of Sydney’s goals is that 50% of its students should have overseas experience prior to graduation and Vietnam will be a great destination for such experiences.

VNU Vice President Nguyen Hong Son advised that Vietnam was in the preparation for the next Party Congress in 2021. Thus, this is the time for Vietnam to look for new innovative ideas in the areas of Sustainable Development, Innovation and Integration, Effective Development of State-Owned Enterprises, Response to Climate Change, and Projection of the Economy’s Future to make relevant recommendations to the Government. This is not only a great but also a potential opportunity for VNU and the University of Sydney to open up cooperation, training and exchange of students and lecturers to improve the quality of education and training at VNU in particular and in Vietnam in general.

The University of Sydney is the oldest university in Australia. Founded in 1850, the University of Sydney now has around 50,000 students enrolled in its programs each year. The University of Sydney has about 3,000 faculty and staff members. The Faculty of Business has about 7,000 students and 300 lecturers and staff members. With nearly 200 PhDs, the Faculty is currently the largest research-training unit in Australia as well as in the Asia-Pacific region.