AURB: For the goal of sustainable development of the region and community

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh. (Photo: Thanh Long/USSH)

- Could you please tell us the fundamental basis for the need to establish AURB?

The Red River Basin is the region connecting the Northern Delta of Vietnam with Yunnan Province (China), creating a large geographical area with a unique civilization spread across the territories of Vietnam and China. Originating from the Ai Lao mountain range in Yunnan Province (China), the Red River flows northwest - southeast into the Gulf of Tonkin of Vietnam, with a length of 605 km in China and 556 km in Vietnam. The population of the Red River Basin includes 46 million people living in Yunnan Province and 20 million people living in the Northern region of Vietnam. From a geographical, natural and economic perspective, the Red River Basin is a culturally diverse region, rich in natural conditions, and dynamic in economic development. Therefore, there is a great need for cooperation at the national and regional levels between local managers and scientists to have necessary policies to promote the sustainable development of this potential area, for the benefit of the people of the two countries.

In fact, there have been early achievements in development exchanges between Yunnan Province (China) and the Northern provinces (Vietnam). One of the outstanding results of economic and trade cooperation between the two sides is that in recent years, Yunnan Province and Vietnam have decided to build a "Transnational Economic Cooperation Zone" along with organizing the Yunnan - Vietnam "Economic Forum". Between Yunnan and Vietnam, an effective cooperation mechanism has been established between the local government of Yunnan and a number of provinces in the Red River basin to build the Kunming - Hanoi - Hai Phong economic corridor. Thanks to the establishment of a cultural and social cooperation mechanism, the two sides have ensured the deepening of cultural and social cooperation in the Red River basin, creating favorable conditions for bilateral economic cooperation. Exchanges in training cooperation have also developed quite well. Vietnam currently has 1,800 students studying abroad in Yunnan, ranking first in the total number of international students in Yunnan.

In that context, there is a great need for cooperation between universities of the two countries - as professional training and research institutions - to research and apply scientific knowledge to serve the practical development of the region. More than ever, universities need to demonstrate their core and pioneering role in development goals. AURB was established as an affirmation of the above common concerns of universities, as well as a commitment to direct their research and training activities towards specific goals related to the development of the population and territories in the Red River basin.

- What are the most important goals that AURB is aiming for, Professor?

At the Forum of Rectors of Universities in the Red River Basin, Rectors of member universities unanimously approved the main goals of AURB, which are:

One is to effectively utilize the characteristics and strengths of member schools, promoting sustainable cooperation among members in the fields of training, research, exchange of lecturers and students.

Second is to fully utilize and promote educational and training research resources, improve the training quality of member universities, and increase AURB's influence on the region and community.

Third is to implement cooperation activities to improve the quality of education, training level, reputation and influence of AURB.

Fourth, train human resources suitable to the requirements of regional cooperation, promote training exchanges; contribute to the development of the economic corridor between Vietnam and China, and contribute to the construction of a free trade zone between China and Southeast Asia.

The fifth is to learn about reform and development experiences and international cooperation models, aiming to build advanced university models of the two countries.

- Could you please tell us the main cooperation directions that AURB will implement in the coming time?

Firstly, AURB will aim to enhance collaborations in scientific research toserving the sustainable development of the territory. First of all, it is to study solutions to maintain and protect the natural environment in the upper part of the river basin, contributing to improving the quality of life of residents in this basin. Next is to study solutions to rationally use water resources in the Red River basin, so that the exploitation of water resources in the upper part does not harm the water resources that the lower part of the basin needs.

Second, AURB will cooperate inTraining human resources to serve sustainable regional development. It will be necessary to carry out research cooperation to correctly identify human resource needs for sustainable regional development, based on research on socio-economic development strengths, natural and socio-cultural characteristics in each sub-region and the entire basin in the context of international integration. I believe that with the strength of professional training and research institutions, this task will be well performed. When correctly identifying human resource needs, member universities will find the scientific and training strengths of each school as a basis for cooperation to achieve the highest efficiency.

Third, the universities will cooperate on specific issues such as cooperation in developing tourism economy in the entire basin. In the territory of the Red River basin of the two countries, natural geography and human geography provide an invaluable resource for developing tourism economy. We can cooperate in training human resources for tourism, exchange experiences in exploiting tourism resources, build legal mechanisms between the two countries... to turn the Red River basin into an attractive tourist area, bringing high economic benefits to the two countries. In addition, universities need to pay attention to researching issues of ethnic relations, culture of the border areas of the two countries, solutions to exploit and utilize infrastructure to promote economic exchange between the two countries and with the region...

- As a founding member of AURB and also the first Co-Chair of AURB, what strengths does the University of Social Sciences and Humanities intend to contribute to the development of the Association as well as to the goals of cooperation and development of the community and the region?

As a member of Vietnam National University, Hanoi, a leading research and training institution in social sciences and humanities in Vietnam, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has a team of leading scientists in many fields related to culture, society, people and development. With 70 years of development, the University has many achievements and experiences in interdisciplinary research towards the goal of sustainable development in localities and regions. With the goal of internationalizing training quality and integrating with the regional and world scientific community, the University has established official relations with more than 180 partners, implementing many effective international cooperation projects. In regional and international forums, the University is a typical representative of Vietnamese universities and has an increasingly important voice in the international scientific and educational community. Since its inception, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has paid special attention to human issues, improving the quality of life, issues of sustainable development, inter-regional, interdisciplinary...; pioneering in many modern scientific fields in Vietnam such as Tourism, Anthropology, Social Work, Psychology, Climate Change, Area Studies... These are the advantages that help the University to fulfill its responsibility as President of AURB: giving ideas and guidelines, connecting members, organizing joint research projects, effectively evaluating projects, expanding international exchanges, creating connections between universities - businesses - localities - Government...

When proposing the establishment of the Association, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities hopes that the establishment of AURB will be a good start for a strong, long-term and effective relationship between Vietnamese and Chinese universities. Universities - the birthplace of scientific knowledge, pioneering the application of science into life - will promote and strengthen their role and mission for the development of the community. Finally, the activities of AURB will contribute to building the Red River basin into a model, sustainable development cooperation area in the region, thereby building increasingly strong and stable Vietnam-China relations.

- Thank you, Professor, for the above discussion.