On the morning of August 10, 2019, the Japanese delegation of the National Institute of Technology (KOSEN National Institute of Technology NIT-KOSEN) led by Dr. Isao Taniguchi, President of NIT-KOSEN Institute, visited The University of Danang (UD). Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vu, President of UD, chaired the meeting and worked with the delegation. On this occasion, the two sides signed a cooperation agreement, officially established the relationship between UD and NIT-Kosen Institute, Japan.

Leaders of UD and NIT-Kosen Institute at the signing ceremony

Attended the meeting and the signing ceremony of cooperation, there were the presence of invited Japanese guests: Mr. Koji Umehara, Director of Technical Education Division Higher Education Bureau - Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan; Mr. Tsutomu Tomioka, Member of the Japanese House of Representatives. On the NIT-KOSEN Institute side, there were Mr. Kenji Higashida, Executive Director; Mr. Hiroshi Omura, Deputy Director General; Mr. Hiroe Hino, Director of International Affairs and Planning Division and Mr. Yorinobu Toya, Vice Director Center for International Exchange. On the UD side, there were the presence of Prof. Dr.Sc. Bui Van Ga, former Deputy Minister – Ministry of Education and Training; Prof. Dr. Tran Van Nam, former President of UD; Rectors of UD’s member universities: University of Science and Technology, University of Technology and Education; and representatives of the Administration Department and some functional departments (International Cooperation Department, Student Affair Department).

Dr. Isao Taniguchi - President of NIT-KOSEN Institute spoke at the signing ceremony

Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Isao Taniguchi, President of NIT-KOSEN Institute, expressed his pleasure to visit UD, and sincere thanks to the UD's leaders for giving the delegation a respectful reception. Dr. Isao Taniguchi thanked to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vu, President of UD, and Prof. Dr. Tran Van Nam, former President of UD, for having attention and effective connection so that the two sides had a good start and established a long-term cooperative relationship. Dr. Isao Taniguchi introduced the highlights of NIT-KOSEN Institute, which initially included 12 national universities (established in 1962) and increased to 43 universities (1965). In 2004, NIT-Kosen Institute, Japan was officially established and managed the network of 55 national universities across Japan, by 2016, increased to 63 universities (including 55 national universities, 05 public universities and 03 private universities), which train more than 10,000 engineers every year. Up to now, there have been about 300,000 graduates, actively contributing not only in the fields of engineering and technology but also in many other scientific fields, many of them are reputable managers, researchers and engineers in the society.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vu – President of UD spoke at the signing ceremony

Speaking to the delegation, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vu, President off UD, sent his greetings and thanked the Japanese guests for visiting, working and witnessing, signing the cooperation between UD and NIT-Kosen Institute. He introduced an overview of UD, which is a key regional, multi-level, multi-disciplinary university including 12 member universities and affiliated units with nearly 2,500 officers and more than 50,000 full-time students. With a tradition of 25 years in operation of UD and 45 years of the member universities, a large number of technical and economic management staffs, teachers and entrepreneurs have been trained for the Central Area and Western Highlands of Vietnam in particular, and the whole country in general.

With the development strategy to become one of the top three universities in the country, UD has a great respect for international cooperation, especially with Japanese universities which have long had a reputation for quality training, important contribution in the "miracle" development of the Japanese economy. With the strength of UD for having many training disciplines in the fields of engineering and technology, and with the aim of training in order to have the contingent of engineers who are "good at theory, good at practice", UD attaches importance to training associated with practice, as well as the universities cooperation with businesses, while the NIT-KOSEN Institute is the leading "cradle" of Japan for training practical engineers. Therefore, both sides have strengths and many similarities to be able to support and cooperate to develop together in the context of the deepening strategic partnership relationship, which are currently in a very good development, between Vietnam and Japan.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vu, President of UD and Dr. Isao Taniguchi, President of NIT-Kosen Institute signed the Cooperation Agreement in the presence of delegates

According to Dr. Isao Taniguchi, the success of Japan with the contribution of the training methods of NIT-KOSEN Institute, is highly appreciated by many countries in the world, so the Institute wants the program to continue to research and apply in Vietnam in general and in Da Nang city in particular, through which the two sides have the opportunity to cooperate in training high quality human resources, contributing to the prosperity of the two countries Vietnam - Japan. Dr. Isao Taniguchi also added that from 2011 to now, NIT-Kosen Institute has organized international conferences on sustainable technical development yearly and expressed its wish to organize this workshop in Vietnam in 2021 with the participation of many scientific researchers and lecturers from UD. Mr. Tsutomu Tomioka, member of the Japanese House of Representatives, also shared and believed "through the cooperation with UD signed today, the NIT-KOSEN Institute wishes to contribute to the development of training for excellent engineers for Vietnam, thereby furthering the friendly relations between the two countries more and more firmly and better”.

Assoc.Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vu presents a souvenir to Dr. Isao Taniguchi (left side)

Prof.Dr.Sc. Bui Van Ga, former Deputy Minister – Ministry of Education and Training, delivered a congratulatory speech to NIT-KOSEN Institute to trust and choose a good partner as UD. Prof. Dr.Sc. Bui Van Ga shared that, while working as an education manager, he was very interested in exchanging students and always prioritized a large number of scholarships in Japan for Vietnamese students and the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training also wishes to apply successful training models of Japan in Vietnam. On this occasion, Prof. Dr.Sc. Bui Van Ga also proposed that the Japanese side should continue to provide technical support, cooperation and experiences sharing for universities in Vietnam in general and UD in particular, especially in practical training. In the presence of delegates, UD and NIT-Kosen Institute, Japan signed an official cooperation agreement to establish cooperation in training, scientific research and international cooperation, with key contents including: (1) Exachange of student, (2) Exchange of lecturers, staffs and researchers, (3) Exchange of academic resources, research and scientific information study, (4) Participate in joint research projects . The signing ceremony ended in trust with this cooperation, NIT-Kosen Institute will become a "bridge" for many Japanese universities and enterprises to UD as well as UD will train high quality human resources for the international labor market in the context of having many Free Trade Ageements which are implemented between Vietnam and its partners, including Japan.

Delegates take photo

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