In October 24th, 2016, Foreign Trade University has had the honor to welcome Mr. Marten Van den Berg, Vice Minister for Foreign Economic Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands for the visit and lectures in the university.

The visit and lectures of the Vice Minister for Foreign Economic Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands in Foreign Trade University is included in the series of activities during the visit of the Vice Minister in Vietnam, along with 34 businesses, research institutes and universities from the Netherlands, with the aim to explore the business opportunities in various economic industries, including: airline industry, agricultural products, renewable energy and marine infrastructure. Director of International Agribusiness Michiel van Erkel and Ambassador NienkeTrooster also participated in the visit.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thu Thuy - Vice President of the Foreign Trade University and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vu Hoang Nam - Head of the Department of International Affairs, along with many students and lecturers took part in welcoming the Vice Minister’s group.

In the meeting, Vice Minister Van Den Berg had expressed his thankfulness to the administration board of Foreign Trade University for the opportunity to meet and discuss with the university’s students and lecturers. According to the Vice Minister, the Netherlands and Vietnam had formed the strategic partnership in water resource management and adaptation to climate change in 2010, and in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in 2014. This visit was expected to enhance the cooperation in exchanging technical knowledge and creativity in the agriculture industry, especially in Food security and avoiding food losses, as well as other industrial fields such as water, agriculture, logistics and transportation, energy and healthcare.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thu Thuy – Vice president of the university had expressed her expectation that throughout the lecture from the Vice Minister, students would have the chance to raise their awareness about the nation’s sustainable development.

For the students and lecturers in Foreign Trade University, The Vice Minister had brought about the lecture on citizens and businesses’ responsibilities for reaching Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Vietnam. Sustainable economic development was the up-to-date term used for strategic planning and finding out suitable factors that would eventually lead to the sustainable economic development. According to this, (economic) development did not only refer to the increase in GDP per capita, however, it should be considered sustainable based on evaluation in these criteria: the economy, the society and the environment. In order to maintain the high-speed, long-term economic development, the increase in income should be included with better living standards, increase in social welfare and poverty reduction.

Development was not only about the continually increasing speed, but the increase should be suitable and sustainable. In the context of Vietnam, in order to achieve this goal, not only synchronization between policies and society should be taken into consideration, but also the investment in up-to-date technology that satisfied the demands for both economic development and environmental preservation. Moreover, policy makers should collaborate the domestic traditional business practice with the global standards in accounting, banking and capital markets; as well as being fully aware of the standards and connection to the sustainable economic development.

In the end of the lecture, Vice Minister Van Den Berg expressed his hope that the lecture would bring about knowledge of Vietnam’s economic situation and what should be done in the future for the development of the nation.

Source: Department of International Affairs

Here are some photos of the event: