At the meeting, the EU diplomat expressed his positive impressions of Vietnam’s remarkable development achievements, partly attributing the results to education - training contributions.

He thanked the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training for supporting the organisation of the Asia-Pacific Regional Summit on the ERASMUS+ programme last year, adding that during the 2015 - 2023 period there were over 3,400 Vietnamese students participating in the ERASMUS+ scheme.

He went on to express his hope that the two sides would coordinate in deploying collaborative activities and raise their budget for this programme moving forward.

The ambassador briefed his host on the EU’s EUR300 billion Global Gateway strategy to boost sustainable links worldwide, and said Vietnamese partners would also benefit from the fund, with priorities to be given to promoting infrastructure-related fields such as energy, transportation, education, and research.

Vietnam is currently leading Asia in capacity building programmes in higher education with 85 education projects capitalised at over EUR66 million, he stressed, while affirming his desire to continue to contribute to further improving the quality of Vietnamese higher education.

For his part, Son spoke highly of the ERASMUS+ scheme which has provided young Vietnamese people with numerous learning opportunities.

The Minister welcomed the bloc’s decision to prepare a draft Letter of Intent on education co-operation between both sides, and expressed his hope that the EU Ambassador would enhance coordination efforts in organising conferences at regional and international levels within the framework of the Asia-Europe Meeting of Ministers for Education.

According to Son, the Government of Vietnam is keen on fields such as semiconductor technology, biotechnology, new energy, and artificial intelligence. He expected that the Ambassador would support connectivity between Vietnamese and EU universities in these spheres.