He hailed the contributions of Prof. Vallely as well as the staff of the Viet Nam Executive Leadership Programme (VELP), which is a collaborative initiative of the Vietnamese Government, the United Nations Development Programme and the Viet Nam Programme at the Harvard Kennedy School.

The VELP has created a forum for Vietnamese senior policymakers as well as business leaders to dialogue based on a foundation of practical research on policy challenges that Viet Nam and the world are facing, he said.

Prof. Vallely spoke highly of Viet Nam’s efforts to preserve cultural and education values and the country’s renovation in socio-economic development over the past years.

He affirmed that he will try his best to enhance the quality of Vietnamese teaching at US universities, contributing to boosting education partnerships between the two countries.

Launched in 1988, the Viet Nam Programme aims to study Viet Nam’s socio-economic development using a multifaceted approach that combines research, teaching and policy analysis.