DHM Ms. Ragnhild Dybdahl from the Norwegian Embassy congratulated students and staff at the University in Nha Trang (UNT) on the role they all have played in the tremendous development of Vietnam the last ten years with the words: “The bonds between Vietnam and Norway are strong and academic cooperation between our countries has been, and will continue to be, important. Through research and education cooperation, exchange visits and personal friendships these bonds are strengthened. Higher education and research, including the importance of critical thinking that is so fundamental for quality education and research, is not only relevant, but central, to current Norwegian development priorities on human rights, trade and economic cooperation and climate and environmental work”. The project is an example of successful development cooperation that enhances research capacity and education in a Vietnamese university, and that promotes technology transfers between countries and research institutions.   

The result seminar at the final meeting had eight PhD students/graduates each presenting their thesis on themes ranging from marketing and tourism, environment and sustainability to fish disease and nutrition. With this wide range of themes Professor Ola Flaaten from The University of Tromsø encouraged the students and graduates “to talk to each other during lunch and find out how you can learn from each other’s work. Interdisciplinarity and cooperation is important to enlighten challenges in work concerning resource use where both natural and social science meet”. It was also pointed out that creating an even better research environment at NTU with offices for the students could inspire further cooperation between people of different disciplines and expertise.

As for the actual results from the project; infrastructure of the university has been improved with books, library, and an E-learning lab. Three people from the NTU staff have completed their PhD programs in Norway/Vietnam, and a fourth PhD is planned and has been funded. Two doctors have completed their post-doctoral research programs, and 192 people from the NTU staff have participated in seven shorter training courses. The NTU has also improved their published research with 25 papers published in international journals and 15 papers published in Vietnamese journals.

During the ten years the project has lasted one of its most important goals have been to raise the capacity of staff in Nha Trang University. This has worked; during the time of the project UNT has become one of Vietnams 20 first universities. Through enhancing the capacity and improving the quality of the research in NTU, the university will be able to contribute to meeting the human resources needed in the fisheries and aquaculture sector in Vietnam. The Norwegian universities who have been supporting the project are the University of Tromsø, Norwegian University of Science and Technology and the University of Bergen.

Rector Vu Van Xung at NTU closed the final meeting by thanking Norway for ten years of cooperation, and by expressing the wish for future collaboration through new channels and projects