Vietnamese intellectuals in Thailand accompany the country in the new era

Photo caption — Ambassador Pham Viet Hung (center) welcomed Vietnamese teachers and intellectuals at the meeting. Photo: Do Sinh/VNA

In his welcoming speech to the teachers and intellectuals attending the meeting at the Embassy, Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Pham Viet Hung said that the Party and State have identified overseas intellectuals as a particularly important resource in the process of bringing the country into a new era. The Ambassador reiterated the strong political message about Vietnam's aspiration for innovation and integration, which was emphasized by General Secretary To Lam at the 9th Central Conference of the 13th tenure, that one of the key tasks is to attract at least 100 leading overseas Vietnamese experts to return to the country in the 2025-2027 period, and at the same time build a special treatment mechanism beyond the framework so that they can feel secure in their contributions.

According to Ambassador Pham Viet Hung, the Vietnamese and Vietnamese-origin community in Thailand currently has about 100,000 people, and has established a tight system of associations such as the Association of Vietnamese in Thailand and local branches, the Thai-Vietnamese Business Association, the Overseas Vietnamese Women's Committee, the Student Association, etc. In recent times, the associations have actively coordinated with the Embassy and domestic agencies to implement work for Vietnamese people abroad. In the context that the two countries have recently upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the Ambassador expressed his hope that the meeting would be an open forum for teachers, seniors and students to connect and exchange substantially, initially building a network of Vietnamese intellectuals in Thailand to share experiences, support each other in work and life, towards promoting scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries and contributing to the homeland.

At the meeting, delegates discussed and shared their thoughts on the potential for Vietnam-Thailand science and technology cooperation, attracting Vietnamese intellectual resources abroad in general and in Thailand in particular, connecting Vietnamese intellectuals in Thailand and giving comments on the draft documents of the 14th Party Congress.

According to Professor Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand and Vietnam are both rapidly developing countries in Southeast Asia and face many similar challenges such as air pollution, traffic congestion and urban flooding. These issues require interdisciplinary cooperation because they are closely related. The two countries can share experiences in using science and technology to solve these challenges.

Regarding attracting Vietnamese intellectual resources abroad in general and in Thailand in particular, Dr. Nguyen Viet Hung, Bangkok Hospital, said that the State needs to have a continuous, consistent and long-term policy to encourage Vietnamese intellectuals and scientists abroad to return to the country to contribute to their homeland in a part-time form; support the conversion of degrees and certificates from Thailand or other countries to Vietnam; create a specialized platform to provide and update information on domestic needs in the field of information technology; have a transnational fund to develop projects, develop transnational academics, and connect between Vietnam and Thailand.

Regarding connecting Vietnamese intellectuals in Thailand, research expert Hoang Hung Manh of AIT proposed to set up contact groups with the Embassy as the focal point to organize and connect not only university lecturers and researchers but also Vietnamese experts and engineers working at Thai enterprises and companies to be able to exchange and share experiences not only in scientific research but also in applying science and technology in practice.

At the meeting, many delegates also expressed their satisfaction with the comprehensive contents of the Draft Political Report of the 13th Party Central Committee at the 14th National Congress of the Party, especially the contents on Breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation, creativity and national digital transformation, along with the contents on Sustainable Social Development Management; ensuring progress, social justice, and caring for people's lives. Delegates said that the State needs to allocate a worthy investment budget for education , health care and scientific research. Professor Phan Minh Dung, a leading expert on artificial intelligence (AI) at AIT, said that the ultimate goal of digital transformation and AI is to improve labor productivity, and also said that the State needs to have policies to help universities immediately deploy AI training programs to create a large number of AI experts so that businesses can recruit when needed.

The meeting took place in a sincere and open atmosphere. Ambassador Pham Viet Hung acknowledged that the opinions shared by the Vietnamese intellectuals in Thailand were very useful, creating a premise for the Embassy to build a network of Vietnamese intellectuals in Thailand, contributing to promoting the collective strength of the overseas Vietnamese community to contribute to the development of the homeland in the new era.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/tri-thuc-viet-nam-tai-thai-lan-dong-hanh-cung-dat-nuoc-trong-ky-nguyen-moi-20251025204248541.htm