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Title: Vietnam Ambassador Visits Campus to Discuss Educational Opportunities, Exchanges
Release Date: 2006-06-01
Full Story:
OXFORD, Miss. - Vietnam Ambassador Nguyen Tam Chien visited the University of Mississippi Thursday (June 1) in an effort to forge stronger relations inside the United States.
Citing education as the forefront of continuing development in Vietnam, Chien said he chose to visit the Magnolia State seeking to embrace outside influences.
"We are in a world community and a world economy," he said. "We need more interaction, so we can learn more from outsiders, including our American friends."
In 1995, the United States and Vietnam established diplomatic relations, and two years later they exchanged ambassadors. Chien explained that the two countries have made great strides in their relationship over the past year. In 2005, the Prime Minister of Vietnam visited this country for the first time since the end of the Vietnam War, and this November, President George W. Bush is scheduled to travel to Vietnam for the APEC summit.
"Not only politically, but in trade and economy, we are linked by our cooperation, and that is key to continuing our friendships and partnerships," Chien said.
During a luncheon with university officials, the ambassador said Mississippi and Vietnam share many common factors, including a large agricultural economy that is shifting toward industrial and technical fields.
University officials took the opportunity of Chien's visit to discuss a number of business and international programs that might appeal to Vietnamese students, and both sides expressed excitement over planned student exchange programs.
"Vietnam has the fastest growing economy in Asia," said Michael Johansson, UM's director of international programs. "They have a growing middle-class population, and those students would be a perfect fit here at Ole Miss, which offers a low-cost, quality education."
Opening up new frontiers in higher education is key to continued reform in Vietnam, Chien said. "We want to enhance our student exchange; providing higher education is the key to the future of my country."
The ambassador's visit was sponsored by UM's Trent Lott Leadership Institute. Bill Gottshall, executive director of the institute, said it may be possible to establish an exchange program between Ole Miss and Vietnam as early as 2007.
"Vietnam is a new field for international exchange recruitment," Gottshall said. "We don't have a formal agreement yet, but this is the first step to establishing that type of relationship."
Attending the luncheon in Chien's honor were Oxford Mayor Richard Howorth and representatives from the university's Croft Institute for International Studies, School of Business Administration, Office of Outreach and Office of the Chancellor.
Chien was presented with several tokens of appreciation, including a key to the city of Oxford and a medallion from U.S. Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss). In return, Chien presented the Lott Institute with a framed print from Vietnam, and he gave the university and city of Oxford books commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the "normalization" in Vietnam.
by Tobie Baker & Jennifer Farrish
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