Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh presents first-class Labour Order to Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on February 23 requested the Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) to take the lead in training and research, and make every effort to successfully achieve the goal of entering the top 100 higher education institutions in Asia by 2030.
Attending a ceremony to celebrate the university’s 30th founding anniversary (January 27, 1995-2025), PM Chinh, on behalf of the Party and State leaders, presented the first-class Labour Order to the institution.
He affirmed that over the past three decades, the VNU-HCM has affirmed the superiority of a multidisciplinary, multi-field university model operating under an autonomous mechanism. It serves as compelling evidence of the correctness of the Party and State's policies on higher education development; and stands as a symbol of the remarkable efforts, comprehensive innovation, and continuous development of the country's higher education system, with many outstanding and truly commendable achievements.
Noting that Vietnam is entering a new era - the era of the nation’s rise with the aim of becoming a developing country with modern industry and upper-middle income by 2030, and a developed, high-income country by 2045, Chinh said that to achieve these goals, the country must sustain continuous growth at a double-digit rate in the coming years, with a clear focus on science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and high-quality human resources.
Therefore, the higher education system in general and the VNU-HCM in particular play a particularly important role, especially in training high-quality human resources; nurturing talent; developing learners' qualities and abilities for self-study, self-enrichment of knowledge, and creativity; and promoting scientific and technological research and application, thus contributing to a qualitative transformation of the economy, and laying a solid foundation for rapid and sustainable development, he emphasised.
The Government leader requested the VNU-HCM to focus on building and operating a higher education governance model based on digital platforms, ensuring autonomy, and promoting the strengths of a multidisciplinary, multi-field university system.
More efforts should be made to develop a leading education-science-technology ecosystem in Vietnam; accelerate the selection, training, and development of outstanding talents, top-performing students, and learners in talent programmes for fundamental sciences; and promote basic scientific research.
The Prime Minister also emphasised the need to prioritise attracting, valuing, and developing a contingent of scientists, especially leading experts and outstanding young researchers, while developing and implementing training, research, and innovation programmes in key areas such as semiconductors, biology, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence (AI), aiming to be among the top in Asia.
Additionally, it should build a national innovation centre, secure sustainable financial resources, and develop a green, clean, modern, and distinctive VNU-HCM urban area, he added.
After 30 years of establishment and development, the VNU-HCM has grown from three member universities specialising in natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, and engineering and technology into a system comprising eight member universities. It now includes additional fields such as agriculture, education, health sciences, and the arts, contributing to the completion of a comprehensive multidisciplinary, multi-field university model.
In 2025, the university boasts 17 disciplines and three fields listed in global rankings, with 14 of them securing spots among the top 500 worldwide. Additionally, it leads the country with 154 programmes accredited according to international standards.
