The 5th Conference of the Rectors' Forum of Universities in the Red River Basin: A turning point in Vietnam - China training cooperation in the Red River Basin

The Red River Basin University Rectors Forum is an educational cooperation organization co-founded by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and Honghe Academy, China in 2014. After 4 sessions, the Forum has operated very effectively, contributing significantly to promoting cooperation between schools in the Forum, mobilizing experts from schools to participate in solving scientific issues of mutual interest, supporting talent training, sharing scientific information, promoting the publication of research results, etc. From the initially limited number of members, the Forum has expanded, recruiting many new members, making the scale of the Forum increasingly larger. From 2019 to 2022, despite the complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused direct cooperation activities to be interrupted, the Red River Basin University Presidents Forum still stood firm, continued to care for and support each other from afar, and was determined to make a strong comeback by organizing the 5th Conference at Yunnan University, China.
Speaking at the Forum, Associate Professor Dr. Lai Quoc Khanh emphasized: "The Red River is not only a natural river flowing through many provinces and cities of China and Vietnam, but also a historical and cultural river connecting the two nations with many loyal and steadfast brotherly and comradely feelings. The Red River basin today is a vibrant economic area of ​​the "Kunming - Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh" economic corridor within the "Two corridors, one economic belt" initiative proposed by the two countries in 2004. Therefore, the formation of the Forum of Principals of the Red River Basin is truly meaningful!
That is a playground, an opportunity for universities of Vietnam and China in the Red River basin to exchange and cooperate in the field of cutting-edge scientific research, high-quality education and training, together creating intellectual resources, training talents to serve the development of the two countries, at the same time, we can join hands and contribute to nurturing the historical - cultural - economic Red River to flow forever into the future, bringing prosperity to our two countries. The 5th conference attracted a large number of representatives from member schools of both countries, including 24 schools and 53 delegates. Representatives of the schools gave many presentations and speeches to share their experiences in training and research cooperation in recent years and some feasible ideas for the coming years. All opinions agreed on the principles of cooperation: top quality; training high-quality talents; regular and periodic exchange of students and staff; associated with serving the socio-economic development of the Red River basin. The conference also witnessed the signing ceremony of cooperation agreements between the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and Yunnan University; University of Commerce and Honghe Academy. Based on discussion and consensus, the Conference unanimously agreed to nominate the University of Social Sciences and Humanities to host the next rotation, and the organization time is 2025. Prof. Ho Kim Minh, Vice Rector of VNU, presented the Forum's rotation flag to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lai Quoc Khanh, the representative to host the 6th rotation. On this occasion, Associate Professor, Dr. Lai Quoc Khanh announced the Action Plan for the 2024-2025 term. In particular, the main activities of the 2024-2025 term are as follows:
Year 2024:Organize the Conference of Heads of Training, International Cooperation and Science Management Departments of universities in the Red River basin. It is expected that Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam will host the Conference of Heads of Departments. The tasks of this Conference include: preparing for the 6th Forum Conference in 2025 in Vietnam and proposing the school to take turns hosting the 7th Conference in 2027 in China; developing a Student Summer Camp mechanism and planning to build the Red River Scholarship Fund; developing a credit recognition mechanism; developing a project to improve the level of academic Vietnamese and academic Chinese; developing a Research - Seminar - Publication mechanism; developing a scientific research award mechanism...
Year 2025:Organizing the 6th Conference of the Rectors' Forum of Universities in the Red River Basin in 2025 at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi. The tasks of this 6th Forum Conference include: Admitting new members; summarizing and exhibiting achievements for the 2024-2025 term; awarding scientific research awards; planning to organize an international scientific conference with the theme "Vietnam - China Cooperation in the first quarter of the 21st century: Current status and prospects"...