As part of the Programme de Formation d’Ingénieurs d’Excellence au Vietnam (PFIEV), the Conseil de Perfectionnement is the framework for annual meetings between the four Vietnamese universities and nine French partner schools to assess the results of the current year and provide guidance for the coming year. From November 20 to 25, 2023, the French consortium came to work at theInstitut Polytechnique de Hanoï, theÉcole Supérieure de Génie-civil de Hanoï, theInstitut Polytechnique – Université de Danang and theInstitut Polytechnique de Hô Chi Minh-Ville. Following meetings at the Vietnamese institutions, the National Development Council of the Program for Training Engineers of Excellence in Vietnam (PFIEV) was held on November 24, 2023 at IPHCMV to summarize the activities of the Consortium of 4 Vietnamese Grandes Ecoles for the 2022-2023 academic year and propose directions for next year 2023-2024.

The meeting was attended by representatives and the Consortium of French Universities: Ms Marine Bruder – Institut français du Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City; Ms Flora Canetti – Chargée de mission du Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City. French Institute of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City; Ms Flora Canetti – Chargée de mission at the Consulate General of France in Ho Chi Minh City; Mr. Thibaut Skrzypek – ENPC ENPC, Spokesman for the PFIEV French Consortium; Mr. Sébastien Houcke – IMT Atlantique Bretagne-Pays de la Loire; Mr. Christian Obrecht – Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon; Mr. Christophe Bobineau – Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble; Claudia Frydman – Polytech Marseille – Université d’Aix-Marseille; Pierre-Eymeric Janolin – CentraleSupélec; Allel Hadjali – Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et d’Aérotechnique de Poitiers; Andrea Werner – Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble; Pascal Maussion – Toulouse INP.
Representatives from the Ministry of Education and Training and Vietnamese universities: Mme. Nguyen Thao Huong – Ministry of Education and Training; Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai – Vice – President, Polytechnic Institute – Danang University; Mr. Pham Xuan Anh – Vice – President, Hanoi Higher School of Civil Engineering; Mr. Truong Hoanh Son – President of the School of Mechanical Engineering, Hanoi Polytechnic Institute, accompanied by the heads of departments in charge of the PFIEV program at member schools.
Representatives of the Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic Institute, UNHCMV: Mr. Mai Thanh Phong – President, Mr. Tran Thien Phuc – Vice President, representatives of heads of departments, faculties, teachers in charge of the PFIEV program, companies and PFIEV alumni and students.
The meeting was pleased to welcome Mathieu Baudouin, from Artelia Vietnam, representing French companies.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Mr. Mai Thanh Phong – President, Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic Institute, UNHCMV warmly welcomed the delegates and expressed the school’s honor in organizing this event as part of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and Vietnam. HCMUT and Vietnamese universities have accumulated valuable experience in university internationalization and international human resources training thanks to the PFIEV cooperation model. These are also 2 of the 6 strategic areas that the Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic Institute plans to implement on a larger scale over the next 3 years. At the end of his speech, he expressed his conviction that, with the culture of sharing, the achievements of the French and Vietnamese consortium in the PFIEV program will continue to grow and accompany the development of the Vietnam-France friendship.

Representative of the French Embassy in Vietnam, Mme. Flora Canetti highlighted the achievements of the PFIEV program in Franco-Vietnamese cooperation from 1997 to the present day, and affirmed the Embassy’s support for the program. The PFIEV program is fully in line with the new direction of Franco-Vietnamese scientific and academic cooperation, aimed at jointly addressing major global challenges such as climate change and the energy transition. To meet these major challenges, training engineers according to the French university model has proved its worth, and the fact that Vietnam has developed and adapted this training program is a great asset.

Mr. Thibaut Skrzypek – Spokesman for the French PFIEV Consortium, École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, representing the French Grandes Ecoles, thanked IPHCMV for its warm welcome and presented a report summarizing all PFIEV program activities for 2022-2023.

Following the completion of two reports from the Vietnamese and French PFIEV Consortium, chaired by Mr Nguyen Hong Hai, representing the Vietnamese Consortium, and Mr. Thibaut Skrzypek, participants contributed ideas to the discussion on the following topics: (1) Recognition of master’s degrees for the PFIEV program in Vietnam, (2) Strengthening the internationalization of the PFIEV program through faculty and student exchange activities, (3) Further strengthening business cooperation, with an emphasis on student internship activities in companies, in particular by establishing cooperation with French companies through the France-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFV), (4) Ability to cooperate in cotutelle training at doctoral level, (5) Drafting of mathematics and physics textbooks for students thanks to the support of the Lycée Louis Le Grand.

Summing up the meeting, after discussions and exchanges to reach a consensus on opinions between the parties, Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai – Vice – President of the Polytechnic Institute – Danang University reviewed again the following points: the objectives, proposals as well as main contents that the parties will jointly implement in 2023-2024 and the closing speech of the PFIEV National Improvement Council meeting in 2023. Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai also announced the completion of the Vietnamese Consortium’s management coordination mandate in the two years 2022-2023, and at the same time introduced Mr. Truong Hoanh Son, Director of the School of Mechanical Engineering, Hanoi Polytechnic Institute will assume the Vietnamese Consortium’s coordination work in the next two years 2024-2025.

The meeting of the Conseil National de Perfectionnement 2023 was a success and ended on a high note. Representatives of the PFIEV Vietnamese-French Consortium had lively exchanges and discussions, providing many valuable insights for the overall, sustainable development of the PFIEV – The training program is considered the most successful ever achieved in higher education cooperation between France and Vietnam.