Connecting enterprises and universities to improve human resource training for the food industry is a necessary trend.

Vice Rector of Ha Noi University of Science and Technology (HUST) Huynh Quyet Thang delivered this message at the 4th meeting of the NutriSEA project’s Steering Committee in the capital city on Wednesday.

During the event, Thang emphasised the importance of drawing up effective traning programmes that involve enterprises from the food sector, to help universities and students and the firms themsevlevs.

He said HUST was participating the three-year NutriSEA project, co-funded by the Eramus+ Programme from the European Union.

HUST and Hue University are two Vietnamese universities selected to join the project, worth more than 970,000 euros (US$1.14 million).

The project targets to create added value to the natural resources supporting food production in the three Southeast Asian countries of Viet Nam, Cambodia and Myanmar, while striving to facilitate co-operation between universities and enterprises.

It includes training courses and establishment of technology transfer units at the partner universities, which focus on university-enterprise cooperation and innovation. The aim is to set up a regional food network with all the relevant stakeholders (universities, enterprises and authorities).

Alejandro Montalban, head of the Cooperation Section, EU Delegation in Viet Nam, said NutriSEA, awarded in 2015, was a good example of EU-funded co-operation. European institutions and universities from Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Myanmar would work together to share experience and strive towards common goals to develop joint university courses and exchange knowledge and best practices.

“In the bigger picture, the aim is to help Viet Nam and other ASEAN countries get on the road to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, a shared objective under which the EU has committed to provide support,” he said.

The 4th meeting, which continues until Friday, will witness the participation of representaives from partner schools, lecturers and a number of companies operating in the food sector. — VNS