HCM City, Association of Francophone Universities bolster cooperation
VOV.VN - Phan Van Mai, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, has pledged his best efforts to augment links between local universities and the Association of Francophone Universities (AUF).
During a reception held for Prof. Slim Khalbous, president of the AUF, on March 8, Mai expressed his pride that Ho Chi Minh City’s universities have contributed to the common development of the Francophone community and the AUF in particular.
He assessed that Ho Chi Minh City represents the second biggest hub of universities in the country, just behind Hanoi. They have connected closely with local authorities, meaning that it is easy for them to join the AUF’s programmes.
The official agreed with the idea of building a career orientation and human resource training centre for the southern city, as well as moving to establish a joint task force with the AUF’s experts in order to set goals of building a smart city, thereby making significant contributions to the city’s development.
In response, Prof. Khalbous expressed hope that more local universities will become members of the AUF. He therefore hopes to hold more co-operation activities with the city this year on the occasion of the 30th founding anniversary of the AUF office in Vietnam.
He said that the AUF currently has three Francophone employment support centres in Vietnam; including those in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang. They are among the nine centres established across seven countries in the Asia-Pacific region with the aim of providing career guidance for high school students so they can choose appropriate university majors, as well as helping Vietnamese university students easily integrate into the job market.
Founded in 1962, the AUF brings together Francophone higher education and research associations with its headquarters in Montreal, Canada.
It is now the world’s largest association of universities and research institutes with 1,007 members from 119 countries.