Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Trao received Professor François Heinderyckx of the Université Libre de Bruxelles
The French-medium Bachelor of Business Communication program at Hanoi University has officially started enrollment since 2016. Up to now, the program has had 3 graduate courses. Since its inception, the program has received much support from the French-speaking Belgian Community and the Francophone University Agency AUF, and many international partners including universities in France, Belgium and Canada, especially, the professional support of Professor François Heinderyckx – Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium.
Within the framework of the business trip, Professor Heinderyckx visited Hanoi University on the afternoon of July 1, 2022, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Trao and leaders of the Faculty of French Studies, and the leader of the International Office had a meeting with Professor Heinderyckx. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Trao stated that Hanoi University was very happy to welcome Professor Heinderyckx to the Campus in Hanoi. HANU held the graduation ceremony for the 2017 and 2018 cohorts, including ones studying the Business Communication and French Studies the day before. The Bachelor of Business Communication program had been opened for 6 years with 3 graduation cohorts.
The President affirmed that Hanoi University was very proud of opening a Bachelor’s program in Business Communication because it was a unique program in Asia, contributing to preserving and maintaining the presence of the French language in Vietnam; it was also the only program in the region from which students could be granted scholarships, asserting themselves to prospective employers. The President added that in addition to the Business Communication program, HANU also had a Multimedia Communication program combining information and communication technology. There are many similarities between the two programs in terms of teaching contents. Therefore, the President hoped that Professor Heinderyckx and ULB would continue to cooperate and support the University in teaching and training activities, and develop cooperation in these two fields.
After having initial ideas on building a Bachelor’s program in Business Communication, the cooperation relationship between the two universities has a history of 15 years. The President hoped that, in the coming time, it would open a new stage in the cooperation relationship between the two universities, strengthening and enhancing the value of the media industry as well as opening up new opportunities for students such as development of cooperation in scientific research, further interdisciplinary fields.
Professor François Heinderyckx shared that he was very moved when he recalled the nearly 15 years of cooperation between the two universities. The professor highly appreciated the continuous support of the leaders of Hanoi University, along with the determination and perseverance of the French Faculty to successfully build the Business Communication program with the results of the first class of graduates in 2020. The professor emphasized the important role of international cooperation, as evidenced by the fact that a Bachelor’s degree in Business Communications allowed students to continue their studies directly into a Master of Communications program at ULB. The year 2023 is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Belgium and Vietnam. The professor hoped that ULB’s Board of Directors could organize a visit to Hanoi University to discuss cooperation programs implemented in the past years and discuss future development plans.
Since 2009, Professor François Heinderyckx – Former Dean of the Faculty of Literature, Translation and Communication of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium accompanied Hanoi University and the French Department to train Communication lecturers at the Master’s and Doctoral levels, supplementing teaching research materials. Thanks to the support of the French-speaking Belgian community, Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI), a group of lecturers in charge of the project at Hanoi University, and a team of lecturers from the Faculty of Information and Communication of ULB analyzed the local market and developed the training program. From 2016 up to now, every year Belgian lecturers and experts have had business trips to exchange and advise Hanoi University lecturers in specialized teaching and scientific research, organizing seminars and talks on communication with the participation of many lecturers, researchers and students from Francophone schools in Hanoi.