France is willing to continue its financial support for Vietnam as well as the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) in space projects.

The remark was made by French Minister of Foreign Trade Nicole Bricq at her meeting in Paris on July 2 with a visiting VAST delegation led by VAST President Prof. Chau Van Minh.

She said the launch of Vietnam’s first remote sensing satellite, VNREDSAT 1, on May 7 this year is an important milestone and a symbol of the scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries.

The VNREDSAT 1 project has a total investment of 55.8 million EUR sourced by the French Government’s Official Development Assistance. The satellite was designed and built by Astrium, an affiliate of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company.

Astrium is scheduled to hand over the control of the satellite to VAST, whose officials and engineers have received training in this field in France over the past two years, on August 8 this year.

VAST President Chau Van Minh thanked the French Government and partners for their support and coordination during the implementation of the project.

Following the success of VNREDSAT 1, the academy has launched a space technology research strategy to 2020, he said, affirming Vietnam’s desire to continue working with France in projects under the strategy.

Vietnam, France bolster technology cooperation

The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) and the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) of France have agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation, especially in the fields of their strength.

The consensus was reached during a ceremony to celebrate the 30th anniversary of cooperation between the two institutions in Paris on July 3.

Addressing the event, VAST President Chau Van Minh said, during the three decades, the cooperation between VAST and CNRS has been deployed in all areas of science and technology, with hundreds of projects jointly implemented by Vietnamese and French scientists.

The cooperation, according to Minh, also takes diverse forms, from scientist exchanges to International Projects of Scientific Cooperation (PISC), International Associated Laboratories (LIA) like LIA Formath Vietnam chaired by the Institute of Mathematics of Vietnam, as well as International Research Networks (GDRI).

Besides bilateral cooperation schemes, there have been numerous inter-disciplinary projects involving many laboratories and research institutes from both countries, he added.

Over the last 30 years, more than 1,000 Vietnamese researchers have been sent to CNRS for scientific exchange, internship and master and doctorate degree courses. Among them, over 100 officials have gained their degrees and become key staff in VAST’s labs.

The two institutions also successfully organised 14 special courses in Vietnam, which were considered an effective way of cooperation which should be expanded, Minh noted.

For his part, CNRS President Alain Fuchs highlighted Vietnam as one of a few countries having deep and traditional ties with France, which serves as a firm foundation for the cooperation between their scientific circles.

He expressed his belief in the equal partnership relations in cooperative projects, and urged for further cooperation combining training and research in topics of mutual interest.

Also at the ceremony, the two sides signed an agreement on a LIA FOCOMAT in composite materials research in the period 2013-2016.

During their visit to France from June 30-July 6, the VAST delegation led by Prof. Chau Van Minh met with Minister of Foreign Trade Nicole Bricq, Astrium-an affiliate of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, the French National Museum of Natural History and CNRS affiliated bodies.