Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences Strengthens Cooperation with France on Social Sciences

On June 3^rd, 2013, in Paris, the General Meeting of the European Consortium for Asian Field Studies (ECAF) took place, together with the signing of a charter to establish “Public Interest Group (GIP) – ECAF”, with the participation of 28 representatives of member organizations (science academies, research institutions and universities based in France, other European countries and Asia). The meeting’s goal was to promote social science research and teaching, especially in the fields of linguistics, culture, history, archeology, and religion

The delegation of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) to the ECAF General Meeting and charter signing ceremony was headed by Prof.Dr. Nguyen Quang Thuan, Vice President of VASS.

Also participating in the ECAF General Meeting and charter signing ceremony were Mr. Frăngxixơcút Vêrơlen (Franciscus Verellen), Director of École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO) in France, Mr. Giăng Mari Đăngdơ (Jean Marie Denzer), President of Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres - Institut de France), Ms. Hêlen Oalaxơ (Helen Wallace), External Relations Director of British Academy of Sciences, and many other directors of agencies, research institutions, well-known universities of social sciences in France, England, Germany, Italy, Poland, Estonia, Australia, China, Korea, Japan, India, Thailand and Hong Kong. Representatives of numerous embassies and consulates of European and Asian countries also attended the General Meeting and observed the charter signing ceremony. Mr. Dinh Toan Thang, Ambassador and Deputy Chief of the Vietnam Embassy in France, attended the meeting as well.

On the occasion, Prof.Dr. Nguyen Quang Thuan and Prof.Dr. Dơni Pơlơchiê (Denis Pelletier), Director of École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), signed a cooperative agreement between VASS and EPHE.

According to the GIP–ECAF charter, all sides reached a consensus on providing field approach guidelines and institutional frameworks in Asia for the benefit of professional staff and technicians, and graduate and undergraduate students of member countries; developing joint programs on subjects in the field of Asian Studies to be  managed by the members; optimizing the usage of existing research centers by building a network by which learning materials, expenses and other materials could be shared; and promoting  European-Asian dialogue and cooperation between research communities of the two regions.

According to the scientific cooperative agreement between VASS and EPHE, the two will promote cooperation on research and training following an equal and bilateral principle in the fields of culture, Han Nom, and archeology. The two also agreed to develop a joint program with the following contents: exchanging researchers, teachers, students and scientific publications, organizing seminars/conferences, and working on joint research projects. In the initial period, priority will be given to religious studies, focusing on the study of ancient epigraphy and publishing documents with the Institute of Han-Nom studies, meanwhile promoting the study of environmental–social interactions and their transformative effects through research on hydraulics (in the Mekong Delta region) and psychology (behavior psychology of development). In addition, the two sides also agreed to sign another joint agreement on newly emerging areas of expertise with good results in all forms of scientific cooperation.

Addressing a journalist of Vietnam Press Agency in France, Prof. Thuan said that attending the ECAF General Meeting and signing the GIP–ECAF charter were important because the charter was a significant document which created a legal basis for implementing cooperation on Asian field studies among ECAF’s members.

The Vice President of VASS emphasized that VASS was one of the founding members of ECAF on the basis of its close and traditional cooperation with EFEO, and had served as a key coordinator of that organization while having an important influence on Vietnamese historians of the 20^th century. Vietnam plays “an important role and becomes an active member” in implementing projects and research activities within Vietnam and in other countries of Asia while sharing experiences in historical research, training, cultural heritage preservation and social issues of mutual concern, he said