The visit is at the invitation of the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and is being supported by the Australian Government, under the treaty level agreement on scientific and technological cooperation between the two nations which entered into force in July 2014. Agriculture is one of the shared areas of interest outlined in the agreement, in addition to climate change, bio-technology, health, and ICT.

“RUN universities have a strong and growing pure and applied research effort, which is undertaken from a unique regional perspective. We are looking forward to collaborating with our Vietnamese colleagues on a range of significant projects” said Professor Peter Lee, chair of RUN.

Gathering six universities with headquarters in regional Australia, RUN members annually deliver educational programs to over 110,000 students, train over 2,200 higher degree by research candidates and conduct world standard research that matters to regional communities.

As planned, the delegation will visit the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural, Thai Nguyen University, the Vietnam Academy of Forest Sciences, the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Nha Trang University, Da Lat University, Vietnam National University - VNU Ho Chi Minh city, Ho Chi Minh city University of Agriculture and Forestry, and Can Tho University.

The week-long visit will end in Can Tho with a research seminar on “Agriculture development for the Mekong delta” co-organised by the Australian Government, RUN universities and Can Tho University. Around 20 Australian alumni are being sponsored by the Australian Government to attend the seminar to provide an opportunity for them to explore options for future research collaboration and networks in the field of agriculture./.

( VNF )