Vietnam's international integration goes online

Source: Nhan Dan

Students in the capital city of Hanoi and southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City on June 26 went online to discuss environmental issues with Japanese and Australian peers, reported the Vietnam News Agency from Ho Chi Minh City.

The e-conference was only the start of a series of activities to be launched by development learning centres in the two cities, which were members of the Global Development Learning Network. The network, an initiative of the World Bank to facilitate online dialogue, discussion and study, has so far connected more than 110 centres of its kind in 80 countries worldwide.

At present, there are only two development learning centres in Vietnam, one in Hanoi and the other in Ho Chi Minh City.

The World Bank was the main sponsor of the two centres. The other supporters included the governments of Australia, Canada and Denmark, according to Laurent Msellati, WB's acting country director in Vietnam.

"These centres reflect our commitment to fostering knowledge sharing and development, by facilitating exchanges between Vietnamese policy makers, academics and experts and their international counterparts," said Msellati.

Freshly inaugurated on June 26, the Ho Chi Minh City Development Learning Centre will offer Internet-based education initiatives and host seminars and global policy dialogues that cover a wide range of development topics, in partnership with local Vietnamese institutions, said Vo Cong Anh, manager of the centre.

It will also make use of its links with the network and the World Bank's support to help local businesses reach out to new markets.