Vietnam, IAEA sign National Program Framework on Technical Cooperation

The signing ceremony for the scheme was held on March 10 in Vienna, Austria, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Board of Governors of the IAEA

In his speech made at the signing ceremony, Ambassador Nguyen Trung Kien, permanent representative of Vietnam to the IAEA, emphasised that the signing of the CPF between the nation and the IAEA has special significance. This comes amid the country being set to assume the position of the chair of the Conference of Member States of the Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology for Asia and the Pacific (RCA) for the 2022 to 2023 term.

With regard to co-operation over recent times, the Vietnamese diplomat expressed his thanks and appreciation for the IAEA's active support in technology transfer, equipment supply, and training for the nation.

These activities not only help the country to improve its overall capacity in the application of nuclear technology for general development, but also help to create an important foundation for the country to successfully deal with global issues such as ensuring food security, combating the pandemic, improving the quality of agricultural products, and purifying clean water sources.

Furthermore, co-operation activities with the IAEA has also helped the nation to successfully build a team of experts involved in multiple nuclear technology-related fields, with these individuals participating more deeply in research programmes and projects hosted by the IAEA.

A number of research projects conducted by Vietnamese scientists have been highly appreciated by the IAEA as an effective contribution to the overall development of nuclear technology.

One of the main Vietnamese priorities in joining the IAEA Board of Governors for the 2022 to 2023 term is to co-operate with other members to enhance the IAEA's role in nuclear technology development for peaceful purposes.

Through these activities, the IAEA can become more involved in solving global problems, thereby contributing to raising awareness about the effectiveness of nuclear technology development and application.

The nation has high hopes that the IAEA will continue to focus on the programme aimed at supporting developing countries to accelerate the application of nuclear technology, thereby facilitating the implementation process.

Dr. Hua Liu, deputy director general for technical cooperation of the IAEA, said that Vietnam is the first country to sign the co-operation programme framework for the period 2022 to 2027 with the IAEA.

This represents an important document as it helps the IAEA to recognise Vietnamese interest and needs in the application of nuclear technology, thereby supporting the IAEA in annually developing the Technical Cooperation Program (TC).

Dr. Liu stated that he is elated to see co-operation projects with Vietnam in the 2022 to 2023 period adopted by the IAEA Board of Governors in November, 2021, all of which are completely consistent with the content of the freshly-signed Cooperation Program Framework for the 2022 to 2027 period.

This indicates that the co-operation process between the two sides over times has been implemented effectively and yielded positive results.

Dr. Liu went on to hail the Vietnamese role in regional co-operation on nuclear technology development, especially in training and capacity building for Laos and Cambodia through the tripartite scheme with both Vietnam and the IAEA.

He outlined his hope that in the role of the RCA's president, the country would further promote regional co-operation, especially in nuclear technology development and training in developing countries.

As part of the occasion, the IAEA leader invited Ambassador Kien to attend the handover ceremony of the RCA Chairman which is set to be held on April 19.