Hung Yen (VNA) - ꧙Minister of State for Trade Policy under the UK Department for International Trade Greg Hands and UK Ambassador to Vietnam Gareth Ward visited British University Vietnam’s (BUV) campus and attended the Inauguration Ceremony of BUV’s newly expanded campus area.

During the visit, the Minister and the Ambassador also attended an online meeting with the 2021 British Ambassador’s Scholarship candidates and held a panel discussion with BUV students. In particular, Minister Hands and the Ambassador opened the inauguration ceremony for the expanded learning area of BUV’s Ecopark Campus and toured the newly finished campus expansion which includes modern lecture halls and multi-functional classrooms. With the integration of state-of-the-art educational technologies, BUV will provide an even greater array of study opportunities in an international-standard environment for the young generation of Vietnam. Located within the BUV Ecopark campus which holds a total investment of up to 70 million USD for its three phases, the newly inaugurated learning area, including specialised practice rooms for such fields as tourism management, international hospitality management, computer science, and computer games design and programming, is fully equipped with the world's most advanced computer systems and equipment. The area offers students high-quality learning spaces to encourage creative conversation between students and faculty, inspire students to explore and improve their capacity for impactful study and research. The beautiful architecture embedded in the modern and inspirational design of the BUV campus is further developed within this expanded campus area. During the visit, Minister Hands and Ambassador Ward joined BUV students in a panel discussion at the new lecture hall. According to Minister Hands, with the UK - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), which officially came into force this May, the focus of the agreement in 2021 is on strengthening business ties, eliminating trade barriers, and increasing access to services including education. Education holds a special place in the relationship between the two countries, with the UK being among the top five destinations for Vietnamese students to study overseas alongside holding the highest number of joint educational programmes with Vietnam. In addition, the two officials also shared with students their university experiences, emphasising the importance of innovation and the ability to foresee and enhance practical skills in the next 10 or 20 years. Minister Hands also sent words of encouragement to the students: “Wherever and whatever you choose to study, flexibility and creativity will be more important than ever in the new post-COVID-19 era. Young people like you will lead the way in developing innovative solutions and new ways of working. I believe you have all the tools and capability to do that when graduating from BUV”. At the end of the reception, Prof. Dr. Raymond Gordon - President of BUV expressed gratitude to Minister Hands and Ambassador Ward. He also emphasised the continuous effort and the commitment of BUV to the mission of bringing world-class British education to Vietnam. “We will begin further major extensions in 2022. We have an investment plan that will result in more experiential learning spaces, practice-based classrooms and learning technologies. With the development of the strategic educational cooperation policy between UK Government and the Government of Vietnam, BUV students will have the opportunity to experience international volunteering activities, internships, jobs and exchange programmes between Vietnam and the UK,” he said. Considered as a successful model in the strategic educational cooperation relationship between the two governments of Vietnam and the United Kingdom, BUV was built with the goal of improving both local and international higher education standards. BUV currently offers 11 undergraduate programmes and one MBA programme, fully taught in English, by 100 percent international faculty and awarded by not only BUV but also two prestigious UK institutions: Staffordshire University (SU) and University of London (UoL). BUV's training programmes and lecturers are regularly assessed by both universities to ensure that they meet the exacting standards, which are governed by UK Government and endorsed by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) who grants permission for degrees to be offered and ensures that the quality of the institutions and their awards are of the highest level./.