Category: Science & Technology

Food enterprises should study the market demand carefully together with branding strategies to expand their international reach, experts said.

According to Nguyen Dang Hien, Vice President of the Food and Foodstuff Association of Ho Chi Minh City, most enterprises had not paid adequate attention to developing marketing strategies and increasing brand recognition for international markets, although Vietnam was a major exporter of agroforestry – fishery products.

An estimate by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that agricultural products exported with brands would have added value 200-300% higher, even 500%.

Thus, it was critical for Vietnamese food enterprises to invest in building processing systems for high-quality agricultural products and increase branding in the international markets.

Hoang Van Viet from the University of Economics HCM City, said that enterprises could consider promoting digital marketing through social networks, YouTube, TikTok, websites and email.

In addition, enterprises should study the demand of the target markets carefully to develop strategic plans for expanding in foreign markets.

Bach Ngoc Hai Yen, Director of Greatlink Maihouse Investment Company, said that to expand in foreign markets, enterprises needed to build and maintain good relationships with customers, which would be the key to increasing competitiveness for Vietnamese food enterprises.

The focus should be on market study to develop appropriate marketing strategies and customer care solutions.

General Director of Cholimex Food Diep Nam Hai said that food companies should pay attention to developing supply chains to ensure the competitiveness of the products in terms of quality and price.

According to Hien, expanding exports was a solution for food companies in the context of low domestic market demand.

He said enterprises should eye potential markets such as China and India and markets in Asia – Pacific regions.

As consumers were increasingly aware of their personal health and environmental sustainability when choosing foods, enterprises should focus on developing products to meet the consumer demands, such as products of plant origin or organic products, he said.

Transition to green production was important, Hien said, adding that green production became an advantage for food enterprises.

Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, President of the HCM City Union of Business Associations, said the association’s survey found that enterprises with green production were having better orders than others in the context of economic difficulty.

Green production was a passport for many enterprises to penetrate and expand in international markets, he stressed.

Vietnamese food products were now present in around 180 countries and territories around the world./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Religious Affairs Ministry’s Research and Development (RandD) and Education and Training Agency called on teachers, especially in madrasas, or Islamic education-based schools, to build students’ awareness of caring for the environment.”From an early age, students need to be accustomed to take on the role of protecting the environment,” head of the agency, Amien Suyitno, remarked at the international webinar “Sharing Experience: Implementation of Project Based Learning” here on Monday. He said all citizens of the world, including Indonesia, are being impacted by the effects of climate change, ranging from pollution to global warming and the greenhouse effect and so on. ccording to Suyitno, teachers in madrasas can teach students about the environment and build awareness against climate change from the perspective of fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence. He said teachings of religion not only pertain to human matters but are also about the balance between man and nature. Hence, he deemed it im
portant for madrasa teachers to instill the values of love and care for the environment among their students. “From the start, our students must be familiarized with the common awareness of environmental sustainability, no matter how small it can be done. When the time comes, it will have a global impact,” he remarked. The international webinar was held under collaboration with the Religious Affairs Ministry, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), and the Australian Government. He believes that this type of webinar is essential, as it trains teachers in developing projects, especially in implementing the Merdeka (Independent) Curriculum. He said the Merdeka Curriculum also covers education for caring for the environment. n advisor from the Inovasi Program, Robert Randall, said that it is important for teachers to comprehensively understand the project-based learning curriculum. He noted that if teachers can apply this in class, then s
tudents will stand to gain much more from the curriculum.

Source: Antara News Agency

Education has been one of the most prominent areas of cooperation between Vietnam and the US, with both sides designing many policies to strengthen bilateral partnership in this field based on the shared view that education is the foundation of national development.

According to the International Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), in recent years, the US has actively implemented a number of programmes to support Vietnam in English teaching and education quality enhancing.

In July 2020, the Governments of Vietnam and the US signed an implementing agreement on English teaching under the Peace Corps programme. The programme was officially started in October 2021, aiming to help Vietnamese students develop their English skills to access studying and employment opportunities.

Volunteers of the Peace Corps programme have been sent to rural schools to train local English teachers and improve students’ performance in English language.

According to the MoET, this project is strategically suitable to Vietnam’s priorities. So far, nine volunteers from the programme have been assigned to nine senior high schools in rural districts of Hanoi. More volunteers are scheduled to arrived in the city in October for the 2023-2024 academic year.

On September 21, 2022, the MoET and the US’s Educational Testing Service (ETS) signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in improving English training quality and testing capacity for the educational system in Vietnam.

In a meeting with ETS Vice President Rohit Sharma last month, MoET Minister Nguyen Kim Son suggested some priorities for cooperation in the immediate future, including sending ETS experts to Vietnam to give consultancy and share experience in testing activities, providing documents and information in organising examinations, and creating conditions for Vietnamese experts to receive training courses of ETS. He also underlined Vietnam’s interest in digital transformation in this field.

Besides, universities of Vietnam and the US have enjoyed strong partnership, especially in training and researching.

Currently, about 50 out of more than 400 underway higher education linkage programmes in Vietnam are with US partners, mostly at graduate (655 students) and post-graduate (about 70 students) levels. Those linkage programmes are mainly in science-technology, computer science and economics.

In recent years, the US Government has provided Vietnam with hundreds of undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships through the VEF Foundation, and supported improving English skills through the Fellowship and Fulbright programmes. The US has also provided Vietnam with practical support to strengthen tertiary education capacity through BUILT-IT and FURTHER projects funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

There are currently about 26,000 Vietnamese students studying in the US both as self-funded and scholarship recipients. Meanwhile, in the last five years, an average 10 – 20 students from the US have come to Vietnam to study Vietnamese and Vietnamese studies.

USAID has also provided significant support for Vietnam’s education and training sector, with some 68 million USD in total granted to projects in Vietnam.

In September 2022, the MoET and the USAID signed a memorandum of understanding on providing development aid to enhance the higher education quality in Vietnam, with a total aid of 15.4 million USD starting from 2023.

A number of US-invested educational institutions have been established in Vietnam, with six general education institutions in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Binh Duong and a university in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Fullbright University Vietnam (FUV) was established in May 2016 as a 100% foreign-invested higher education institution operating not for profit.

Vietnam has focused on promoting international integration and attracting foreign investment in education in a bid to enhance education quality towards creating a breakthrough in human resources development. Therefore, there is great potential for educational cooperation between Vietnam and the US, contributing to promoting bilateral relations, strengthening the connections between the two peoples and boosting the sustainable development of Vietnam./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Minister-Deputy Minister of Education Entering the ministry on the first day of work Meet and talk with ministry officials Ready to move forward with educational development policy

Pol. Gen. Permpoon Chidchob, Minister of Education and Mr. Surasak Panjaroenworakul Deputy Minister of Education First day working at the Ministry with executives Permanent government official The heads of various departments welcomed by at 09.29 a.m. attending a ceremony to pay homage to the Buddha images attached to the ministry, the shrine, the King Rama VI monument for auspiciousness. Then the Minister of Education entered the office. Meet, talk, introduce yourself to executives and government officials. at the Rachawallop conference room

The Minister of Education said briefly at a meeting with agency executives that There will be another policy meeting after the Cabinet has given a policy statement to the parliament. Various work He is a person who likes to see the actual area himself. There will not be any advance notice. It has been like this since the time he served as a police officer. Hope there will be a good collaboration. Ready to listen to advice on work He is not a glass-full person. Although not all round, but believes that there is a good team

However, after the meeting The Minister of Education did not give an interview to the many waiting media. and immediately left the Ministry to continue his mission.

Source: Thai News Agency

Denpasar (ANTARA) – As many as 100 students and teachers in 11 three-language schools in Bali and West Nusa Tenggara were awarded Mandarin language education scholarships on Tuesday by the Chinese Consulate General in Denpasar, Bali.nak Agung Bagus Suryawan, the Head of Special Education and Special Services Education at the Education, Youth, and Sports Department of Bali Province, stated that the scholarship program offers students in Bali an opportunity to enhance their Mandarin language skills. He also mentioned that the scholarship program supports efforts to increase cooperation in the fields of culture and education with China. erald, one of the scholarship recipients from Pelita Bangsa School in Denpasar, shared that the Mandarin education scholarship program motivated him to improve himself. Meanwhile, Steffany, an exemplary teacher who received a scholarship, expressed hope that in the future, she would be able to make a more significant contribution to organizing Mandarin education at her school. idy Furqan, the Head of Education and Culture of West Nusa Tenggara Province, welcomed the implementation of the Mandarin education scholarship program, which is expected to boost the competitiveness of human resources in the region. Chinese Consul General Zhu Xinglong stated that the scholarship programs are expected to help increase understanding of the Chinese language and culture, as well as strengthen China’s relations with Indonesia. He also emphasized that the Chinese Consulate General encourages young Indonesians to learn the Mandarin language through the Kang Chingwie scholarship and cultural exchange program. Mandarin education scholarships are awarded annually, and 2023 marks the sixth year of the program’s implementation. The scholarship has been granted to more than a thousand students and teachers.

Source: Antara News Agency

The STEAMese Festival 2023 with the theme of igniting creativity and unlocking passion, took place in Hanoi on August 27, attracting the participation of numerous students, parents, teachers, and educational institutions.

The event was organised by the STEAM for Vietnam organization, UNICEF in Vietnam, the US Embassy’s American Center, and Phenikaa University.

Speaking at the event, Nguyen Phuong Thuy, co-founder of STEAM for Vietnam, said the ecosystem of STEAM for Vietnam programmes revolves around a mission of providing modern STEAM education to Vietnamese children aged 6 to 18 through advanced technologies, innovative educational models, and the expertise of teachers.

Kate Bartlett, Cultural Attaché at the US Embassy, affirmed that the US diplomatic mission in Vietnam is committed to supporting the Southeast nation’s efforts in enhancing the quality of higher education and preparing its 21st-century workforce for global integration. Vietnamese youths are dynamic, talented, and ambitious global citizens, and their potential is limitless, she noted.

Participating domestic and international experts, policymakers, and schools joined discussions at the festival to share teaching methods and materials design for STEAM educators.

A series of creative and interactive STEAM activities, such as the Scratch and Robotics, scientific exploration, and robot assembly, were also organised, becoming a big draw to students, parents, and teachers from Hanoi, Lao Cai, Soc Trang, and other provinces and cities./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on August 19 visited Tu Mo Rong Boarding School for Ethnic Minority Students in Kon Tum and inspected the Central Highlands province’s preparations for the 2023-2024 academic year which will begin in early September.

According to the Director of the provincial Department of Education and Training, in the new school year, Kon Tum has over 160,000 students, of whom nearly 100,000 are of various ethnic minority groups; and more than 11,000 teachers and management staffs. Basic conditions for the new school year have been completed.

PM Chinh requested the local education sector to maintain the effective implementation of mechanisms and policies of the Party and the State on education and training, with the motto of “students are the centre, schools the foundation, teachers the driving force of education and training”.

The province should focus on raising the quality of teaching and learning, and improving the life skills for students, he said.

The Government leader asked local Party committees and authorities to pay attention to upgrading facilities for schools, especially boarding establishments for ethnic minority students, and attach importance to school administration.

On this occasion, PM Chinh presented 1 billion VND (42,000 USD) to Tu Mo Rong boarding school to help it buy equipment and upgrade facilities./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Nusantara Capital City Authority (OIKN) has forged cooperation in research, education, and community empowerment with the University of Indonesia, Gadjah Mada University, Brawijaya University, IPB University, and Bandung Institute of Technology.The cooperation was marked with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) as well as a discussion between OIKN and the higher education institutions at Samboja Lodge, Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan, on Friday (August 4, 2023). In a statement released here on Saturday, OIKNHead Bambang Susantono saidthe MoU is a follow-up to an earlier cooperation with Mulawarman University on the development of the new capital Nusantara and supporting regions, which was signed in March 2023. During Friday’s discussion, the OIKN head and rectors discussed actions to make the new capital city a sustainable forest city through a consortium. “Hopefully, the result of this discussion is something that is full of knowledge and evidence-based for a collaborative program with academicians to be carried out later,” he said. OIKN’sDeputy of Environment and Natural ResourcesMyrna A. Safitri said that North Penajam Paser District, East Kalimantan, where Nusantara is located, is a region that has received less attention in terms of research. “It is hoped that the consortium that will be carried out will help us strive for knowledge sovereignty, especially in North Penajam Paser region as part of the Nusantara capital city area,” Safitri added. In response to the results of the discussion, OIKN’sDeputy of Green and Digital TransformationMohammed Ali Berawi explained that the Nusantara Research Program has been initiated to support research in the new capital. The research program comprises four clusters: energy, food, and transportation; social and humanities; well-being and environmental conservation; and technology and information. “Hopefully, with the consortium, there will be knowledge storage and knowledge transfer, which can be used for further development,” he said. The discussion session ended with conclusions and inputs provided by rectors, namely, regarding Nusantara’s development and the need for a comprehensive and science-based approach while still maintaining existing local knowledge and wisdom so that science and social aspects can go hand in hand. They also expressed the hope that the people who live in Nusantara and its surrounding areas will live sustainably and in harmony with nature.

Source: Antara News Agency