Hanoi National University must become a top-tier policy consulting center.

During the celebration of the 120th anniversary of the founding of Vietnam National University, Hanoi, General Secretary and President To Lam expressed his hope that Vietnam National University, Hanoi would become the "brain bank" of the Party and the State, making a significant contribution to formulating policies and providing solutions to the major problems of the country and the era.

On this occasion, VOV2 presents an interview with Professor Hoang Anh Tuan, a member of the Central Theoretical Council and Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

Reporter: Professor, at the 120th anniversary celebration of Hanoi National University, General Secretary and President To Lam delivered a profound speech expressing his faith and expectations in Hanoi National University. How do you feel about this?

Professor Hoang Anh Tuan:General Secretary and President To Lam's speech at the 120th anniversary celebration of Hanoi National University, filled with faith and expectations, was not only an acknowledgment of the long-standing academic tradition of a particular university, but also a strategic message about the role of higher education and elite training in the future development of the country.

Firstly, the Party and State leaders have placed their trust and expectations in Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU): with its 120-year journey, VNU has achieved many accomplishments, and this is the foundation for breakthrough development in the future, aiming to become a leading university in the country and a center for training, research, innovation, and technology transfer with significant influence in the Asian region. This trust is both an honor and a very heavy responsibility.

Secondly, the Party and State leaders demand a strong transformation in Vietnamese higher education: The overarching spirit in the current orientations of the Party and State leaders emphasizes issues of genuine university autonomy, scientific and technological development, elite training, connecting universities with businesses and national needs, and building cutting-edge fields such as AI, semiconductors, biotechnology, digital transformation, and new energy… This means that Vietnam National University, Hanoi cannot be strong only in tradition, but must be strong in its capacity to create new knowledge and contribute directly to national competitiveness.

Thirdly, high expectations also mean the need to be pioneering: Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) must not only train highly skilled professionals, but also cultivate intellectuals with strong character, a spirit of service, and the ability to lead society. Therefore, VNU must drastically restructure its training programs, focus on talent development and elite training, invest heavily in cutting-edge research, attract international scholars, build an innovation ecosystem, and create an environment where Vietnamese students can compete globally based on the soft power of national identity.

Reporter: Professor, how should we understand the concept of "wisdom pool" that the General Secretary and President use? Do you think that the role of higher education institutions, especially Hanoi National University, should not only be limited to training human resources but also include the responsibility of researching and finding practical and effective solutions to lead the country to sustainable and comprehensive development?

Professor Hoang Anh Tuan:The fact that General Secretary and President To Lam assigned the Vietnam National University, Hanoi the task of becoming a "brains" that the State turns to when it needs scientific arguments for strategic decisions; a place where businesses seek to jointly develop technology, human resources, and new business models; and a place where society finds faith in the power of Vietnamese knowledge, science, and education, has a particularly important significance.

The message and expectations of the highest leaders of the Party and State place an extremely heavy and glorious responsibility on Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU): First and foremost, VNU must focus all its resources on continuing to build and develop into a "top-tier policy advisory center" for the Party, State, and society. Beyond its function of training high-quality human resources and talents for socio-economic development, VNU must also become a center of science and innovation capable of advising Party and State agencies on major policies and strategies, providing solutions to the nation's long-term and contemporary challenges, enabling the country to achieve breakthrough development in the new era.

The task assigned by General Secretary and President To Lam to the Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) to become a "brain bank" is also a strategic orientation for VNU to become a "brain bank of the era," a center for gathering outstanding minds, intellectual elites, and scientific and technological talents from Vietnam and around the world. VNU must be a bridge between intellectuals, scholars, and talents and policy-making and strategic planning agencies.

Therefore, in the coming period, Vietnam National University, Hanoi must have policy breakthroughs in attracting and utilizing talent to focus intellectual resources on providing scientific arguments for forecasting, offering initiatives, analyzing, advising, and critiquing policies, and directly participating in the process of formulating the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's laws and regulations, and the country's economic, cultural, and social development projects.

Reporter: Professor, what should Hanoi National University, especially the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, do to realize the policies and goals of the Party and the State, maintaining a balance between the development of science and technology and socio-economic development while preserving its unique cultural identity, combining tradition and creativity, to contribute to the nation's progress?

Professor Hoang Anh Tuan:Pursuing a philosophy of Culture – Modernity – Enlightenment, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities steadfastly maintains that the values ​​and cultural identity of the nation are the foundation and driving force for development, not an obstacle. To concretize these views into practical life, and to implement the policies and goals set by the Party and State in the context of the country's current rapid transformation, the University continues to persistently promote the following fundamental aspects:

The university continues to be a leading research and training center in the fields of history, culture, classical studies, and heritage – a place that both shapes the thinking and knowledge of future generations and provides scientific arguments to support the development of sustainable national strategies. By promoting research and identifying the values ​​and identity of national culture, civilization, and classical studies, it helps society recognize, correctly understand, and clearly grasp its cultural values, thereby preserving and exploiting them to serve social development, with particular attention paid to and emphasized on human values. This is the most important foundation in building a modern and distinctive Vietnamese person.

The school is building a large database of the country's cultural heritage to serve the preservation, research, and utilization of the academic community and society.

The results of cutting-edge research are not only reflected in prestigious research papers but also in various forms that make it easy for the public to access and understand the values, and to concretize them in the thoughts and actions of each individual and of society as a whole.

Human resource training should not only focus on identifying values ​​but also on transforming those values ​​from resources into driving forces for sustainable development, simultaneously preserving, exploiting, and creating new values ​​based on existing ones, thereby continuing the traditions of the school, of the Vietnamese people, and of Vietnam.

Interviewer: Thank you very much, Professor!

VOV2:Hanoi National University must become a top-tier policy consulting center.