Vietnam Seeks Stronger Education, Research Ties with Canada

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam has expressed his intention to further strengthen cooperation in education and research with Canada's Concordia University. This move is expected to build upon the Comprehensive Partnership established between the two countries in 2017, which has facilitated the expansion of bilateral cooperation across various fields. General Secretary and President To Lam called on members of the Canada-Vietnam Friendship Association to deepen their collaboration with the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations and the Vietnam-Canada Friendship Association, continuing their role as a bridge between the two peoples. This aligns with the analysis that Vietnam and Canada, while not always adopting identical approaches to international issues, share a common interest in maintaining a rules-based system that limits the influence of power politics and allows countries greater room for autonomous development choices. Reports indicate that Vietnam is presenting historical and legal materials to prove its sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel Islands) and Truong Sa (Spratly Islands) in the East Sea. This highlights the ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea as a significant diplomatic issue in the region. Domestically, the Vietnam Association for Promoting Education (VAPE) plans to focus on enhancing the quality of its activities on digital platforms and renewing learning models towards digitalization and green transformation to meet the country's development requirements. Furthermore, in addressing environmental concerns, a project is underway to provide access to a pre-arranged insurance mechanism for approximately 100–120 vulnerable households, enabling them to receive financial support when rainfall exceeds a specified threshold, rather than waiting for post-disaster relief. Additionally, Vietnam has reported that as part of its 500-day campaign to step up the search for, collection, and identification of remains of fallen soldiers, its remains sampling team has collected over 8,420 samples from unidentified remains. This is seen as part of efforts to address the legacy of war and foster national unity. Vietnam is also diversifying its international engagement by agreeing to establish a cooperation framework with Russia for exchanging external information and supporting cooperation programs. Source: VietnamPlus English