Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed that the United States provide more scholarships to Vietnam.

On the morning of September 18 local time, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited and spoke at the University of San Francisco (USF).

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visits and speaks at the University of San Francisco (USF). (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

Sharing with the lecturers and students here, the Prime Minister said that this working trip, the Vietnamese delegation came to the United States with a very happy mood and it is even more meaningful when the two countries have just upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership framework.

The Head of Government said that the joint statement of the two countries' leaders emphasized thateducation and training cooperation is one of the focuses of the bilateral relationship, especially in training high-quality human resources, helping Vietnam achieve its development goals.

The Prime Minister highly appreciated the educational achievements of the University of San Francisco, the first university in California, with a long history of training not only for the United States but also for more than 100 countries around the world. “We are very impressed by this,” the Prime Minister said.

According to the head of the Vietnamese government, the United States is one of the countries with modern education, including San Francisco State University. In the general modern education of the school, Vietnam is proud to be the country with the third highest number of graduate students after China and India, while Vietnam has a population of 100 million and China and India have more than 1 billion people.

The Prime Minister said that the Vietnamese delegation's visit to the United States this time was very joyful and even more meaningful as the two countries have just upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership framework. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

Believing that universities in the United States in general and San Francisco State University in particular have contributed to improving Vietnam's human resources in recent times, the Prime Minister hopes that in the future, the school will train more and more effective human resources for Vietnam.

The Prime Minister hopes that US educational institutions will continue to expand and improve their quality, as well as the number of students coming to the US for training will increase.

“We propose that the United States provide Vietnam with many scholarships in many fields, focusing on industries serving digital transformation, circular economy, sharing economy, etc., which are areas that Vietnam is currently in great need of,” the head of government emphasized.

The Prime Minister said that in Vietnam's general policy, education is the top national policy. Training the young generation and lifelong learning is Vietnam's policy, and emphasized that a breakthrough in training high-quality human resources is one of Vietnam's three strategic breakthroughs.

Therefore, the pillar of Vietnam-US cooperation in education and training is consistent with Vietnam's direction and the trend of the times, as well as US policy.

“In such a general trend, we hope that San Francisco State University will take the lead in accepting and increasing the number of scholarships as well as creating conditions for Vietnamese students to study here,” the Prime Minister suggested.

Also attending were many Vietnamese students studying at the school. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

“A year begins in spring, life begins in youth. Therefore, young people who come here to study need to maximize their abilities, compete and interact to always be at the top of the professions that the world and Vietnam need,” the Prime Minister advised.

The Prime Minister hopes that young people need to maximize their national pride, love of learning, patriotism, and efforts to study and practice, proving that our nation is not inferior to any nation in any field; and hopes that teachers, in the common sentiment of the Vietnam-US relationship, will always have special affection for Vietnamese students.

Regarding the sharing of the school's Principal - Father Paul J. Fitzgerald, SJ about the contributions of religions in Vietnamese history, including the process of forming the national language, the Prime Minister agreed and shared that religions have made great contributions to the process of forming Vietnamese culture, as well as the cause of building and defending the country.

The Prime Minister recalled that in the 1945 Declaration of Independence, President Ho Chi Minh quoted the US Declaration of Independence, affirming the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of each person.

As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country with a rich religious life, the Prime Minister affirmed that the Vietnamese State always consistently implements a policy of respecting and ensuring the freedom of belief and religion, and the right to follow or not follow a religion of the people. Vietnam ensures equality and non-discrimination on the basis of religion and belief; protects the activities of religious organizations by law.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said the Government always encourages students to return home. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

"If anyone does not understand about Vietnam, about Vietnam's ethnic and religious policies, I would like to ask the teachers and students of San Francisco University to explain it to them. We are also willing to invite everyone to visit Vietnam to witness the actual implementation of ethnic and religious policies in Vietnam," said the Prime Minister.

Citing the Vietnamese saying " a hundred hearings are not as good as one seeing", and reiterating the folk song "Gourd, please love the squash/Although different species, we share the same trellis" , the Prime Minister emphasized Vietnam's policy of great national unity and religious unity.

At the event, students asked the Prime Minister about Vietnam's policy for students studying abroad to return to contribute to the country's development and create an environment to support them in starting their own businesses.

In response, the Prime Minister said that this was a question that many overseas Vietnamese asked him during his trips to many countries. Calling on students studying abroad to return to their country to contribute is part of Vietnam's general policy.

“The government always encourages students to return home but respects their choices and encourages them to continue improving their abilities and qualifications. When they feel they can contribute better, we are ready to welcome them back,” said the Prime Minister.

Currently, Vietnam attracts talented young students with many policies, including Decree 140/2017 of the Government on policies to attract and create human resources from excellent graduates and young scientists.

Source