Programme helps bolster Vietnam – Cambodia
Nearly 500 Cambodian students have received support from Vietnamese organisations and individuals under the “Nurturing seeds of Friendship” programme, which was launched by the Vietnam – Cambodia Friendship Association in 2012.
The programme has helped enhance the stable and time-tested friendship between the two peoples.
Getting a scholarship from the Vietnamese Government, Thon Bunheng is now a postgraduate at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City.
She said Cambodian students are taught Vietnamese and have an opportunity to study the Vietnamese history, culture and customs so that they can better integrate into the host nation.
She felt a glow of pride when she gets a deeper insight into the Vietnam – Cambodia relations, which have been nurtured by generations of leaders of both sides, adding the history has recorded the contributions made by the Vietnamese military and people to Cambodia’s struggle for national independence in the past as well as construction for a prosperous nation nowadays.
While studying in Ho Chi Minh City, Thon Bunheng has received great support from her foster parents who make her feel at home. She affirmed that after returning to Cambodia, she will try her best to work and contribute to the solidarity and friendship between the two nations.
Nguyen Cong Trung from Hoc Mon district, Ho Chi Minh City, who is a member of the Executive Board of the Vietnam – Cambodia Friendship Association, is taking care of Aing Kimhing and Vannak Dine – two Cambodian students at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Ho Chi Minh City.
As a former voluntary soldier who performed international mission in Cambodia, Trung said that he wants to educate the young about the traditional friendship between the two countries so as to nurture the relations.
President of the Vietnam – Cambodia Friendship Association Nguyen Thi Thanh said the programme has drawn warm support from its members and Cambodian students, adding more than 200 Cambodian students are receiving assistance from Vietnamese families in 2023.
According to Le Tuan Khanh, Vice President of the association, the programme has been carried out in the context that the Vietnam – Cambodia solidarity, friendship and comprehensive cooperation have developed well in all fields, especially education-training and human resources training.
It has joined the Party and State’s efforts to take care of and support Cambodian students in Vietnam who are expected to contribute greatly to their country’s construction and development and become a “bridge” to further connect the two peoples.
