The FINANCIAL -- Vietnam has signed an agreement with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) which will allow the two to work together on diplomatic training, research and teaching. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam (MOFA) and LSE  signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), on Tuesday 20 October. 

"MOFA's objective is to reach out to the academic world and its top thinkers, and this agreement is the first it has ever signed with a leading academic institution. It provides a basis for LSE to conduct training courses for Vietnamese diplomats, in Vietnam and the UK. LSE and the Vietnam Academy of Diplomacy also hope to begin an exchange programme for lecturers, researchers and Vietnamese students, with LSE contributing to the Academy's social science teaching in subjects such as international relations and economics," LSE informed.

LSE will be ready to help MOFA's Institute of Strategic Diplomatic Studies to conduct research programmes on diplomatic strategy and public policy, guide MOFA in the development of its electronic library, and provide consultancy. MOFA will assist LSE with its Vietnam studies and hopes to send experts to LSE to exchange information. 

The document was signed by MOFA officials His Excellency Mr Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Deputy Minister and Mr Nguyen Hoang Long, Deputy General-Director of the Europe Department; and by Professor George Gaskell, Pro-Director of LSE and Mr Simon Flemington, Chief Executive of LSE Enterprise. The signing took place in the presence of His Excellency Mr Mark Kent, British Ambassador to Vietnam.

Nguyen Quoc Cuong said:  'As Vietnam becomes more and more integrated with the world, we consider our cooperation with LSE to be very important. We hope that we can further expand our activities with LSE.' 

Simon Flemington said:  'The signing of the LSE-Vietnam MOFA agreement is a significant step for LSE to broaden its relations across different departments and activities within Vietnam. It embraces LSE Enterprise's profile as one of the leading providers of economic and diplomacy training to governments around the world.'  

The MOU is a sign of LSE's commitment to knowledge sharing, and reflects the developing relationship between LSE and Vietnam. LSE currently hosts 36 Vietnamese students, and has run a number of training programmes such as LSE Enterprise's executive education programme for Vietnamese public sector managers in Globalisation, Competitiveness and Public Sector Reform last month.

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