On 28 October, a meeting with the Plenipotentiary Representative of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in JINR completed a series of work visits of the JINR delegation to universities and scientific organizations of Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VINATOM) and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Participants of the meeting confirmed their great mutual interest in the further cooperation development in scientific and technological issues, staff training programmes and outlined a plan of actions.

The delegation started its work in the capital of Vietnam on 27 October at Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST), one of the university included in the VAST system. A group of JINR employees headed by Yuri Panebrattsev, participating in the work of the international scientific symposium Origin of Matter and Evolution of Galaxies (OMEG16), displayed a multimedia exhibition dedicated to the history of the development and the basic facilities of JINR at the University. More than 300 people, mostly young scientists, visited the exhibition arranged with the active assistance of VAST and HUST.

The JINR scientific infrastructure, the history of and prospects for the Vietnam-JINR cooperation, as well as the scientific directions of the VAST Institutes was also presented for HUST students and postgraduates. One of the lecturers was a young Vietnamese JINR scientist Vinh Luong. Other Vietnamese JINR employees in Dubna took part in the meeting via a teleconference. They shared their experience in participating in international research projects of the Institute. A round table moderated by Vice-Rector of the University Tran Dinh Phong and Head of the JINR International Cooperation Department Dmitry Kamanin concluded presentations. Le Quynh Lien, the Director of the Department of International Cooperation of VAST, highlighted an active position of the Plenipotentiary Representative of Vietnam on staff training programmes and employment opportunities for young researchers and engineers at the Institute. The audience expressed great interest in presentations judging by the number of specific questions asked by participants of the round table both in English and Russian.

The programme of the day continued with the discussion of the prospects for cooperation at the Institute of Geophysics of VAST. Director of the Institute Nguyen Xuan Anh made a number of proposals for the development of relations with JINR. In particular, the Institute of Geophysics would be interested in using the resources of the MLIT Supercomputer to process data obtained by the Vietnam national seismological network, as well as training IT specialists in this field. Afterwards, the JINR delegation visited one of the stations of the system of studying the physical nature of lightning and atmospheric aerosols, as well as the children’s scientific school.

On Friday, 28 October, the JINR delegation visited the Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (INST), one of the Institutes of the VINATOM system, at which there was a meeting with its Directorate and researchers. In addition, JINR representatives got acquainted with the main scientific directions of the INST scientific programme, visited its laboratories, including a cyclotron laboratory for the production of medical isotopes. Deputy Director of INST Nguyen Huu Quyet headed the meeting, which was held in the format of a round table and brought together heads of the departments. The discussion resulted in a proposal to organize a work visit of the Institute’s representatives in JINR to establish direct contacts with relevant scientific groups.

To summarise the results of the visit of the JINR delegation in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, a meeting of the JINR delegation with Plenipotentiary Representative of Vietnam, Vice-President of VAST Tran Tuan Anh was organized at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. In addition, President of VINATOM Tran Chi Thanh, as well as the directors of the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Geophysics, and HUST, took part in the meeting. During the discussion, the parties highlighted great mutual interest in a wide range of joint work areas. The scientific cooperation development, engineering and technological issues, training programmes of different level staff, the international cooperation development in the ASEAN region, an opening of a JINR Information Centre in Vietnam, prospects for Vietnamese high-tech business were among them. The parties agreed to continue working on the Strategic Plan of the Vietnam-JINR Cooperation Development that would cover all the priority cooperation directions for short, medium, and long-term perspectives, mechanisms of joint work implementation, and expected results.

As part of the implementation of the outlined plans, the parties will hold a regular meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee at the beginning of 2023. In addition, JINR was invited to take part in two international conferences in Vietnam in 2023. As for Vietnamese heads, they were proposed to continue participating in the JEMS programmes.