The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) has signed a Memorandum of
Agreement (MoA) with Vietnam's University of Agriculture (HUA) and Hue
University of Agriculture and Forestry (HUAF) for a two-phased
collaboration intended to assist the development of a curriculum for
the establishment of a new master's program in integrated natural
resources management. This first phase of the collaboration is funded
by the Ford Foundation, Hanoi, Vietnam. The program is expected to be
launched from August 2010.
The deal was struck at an official signing ceremony on 22 August 2008
at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). The Institute has an active
ongoing collaboration with both HUA and HUAF, and a number of master's
and doctoral students from the two institutions are currently pursuing
their studies at AIT. The Government of Vietnam has officially stated
its goal of producing 20,000 PhD graduates in different academic fields
by 2020.
Entering into the second phase, additional Ph.D. scholarships will be
allocated to AIT for the capacity building of faculty sent from the two
universities. These scholarships will be partially funded by Ford
Foundation. The Ford Foundation has helped with the provision of
scholarships to HUA and HUAF, and through faculty development support
initiatives. Officials said the possibility of availing of a second
phase parallel grant is also being explored.
AIT will also deliberate with the rectors of some of its key partner
agricultural universities, in matching the needs and requirements
of this agreement, wherein a university consortium could be
formed in which AIT could take a lead role in terms of faculty capacity
building.
At the official signing ceremony, AIT received delegations from HUA and
HUAF, which included Professor Tran Duc Vien, Rector, Hanoi University
of Agriculture (HUA); Dr. Nguyen Thanh Lam, Director CARES, (HUA); Dr.
Tran Van Minh, Rector, Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry
(HUAF), and Dr. Le Duc Ngoan, Vice Rector for International Relations
and Information Technology, (HUAF).
