Associating Mr. Alfredo Perdiguero was Ms. Pamela Asis-Layugan, Program Officer - ADB’s Phnom Penh Plan for Development Management. Participating in the working session were Dr. Nguyen Dang Minh - Head of Office of Research and Partnership Development and Dr. Nguyen Anh Thu - Vice Dean of UEB’s Faculty of International Business and Economics.
It is known that the VNU-UEB has successfully implemented a research project entitled “Facilitating cross-border trade through improving financial services in the border area of Vietnam and policy implications for the GMS countries” funded by the Asian Development Bank. The project which was led by Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Hong Son was within the framework of Phnom Penh Plan for Development Management in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. With the recognized prestige and quality in research of the UEB’s staff and faculty, the university remained its trustable position to the ADB, committing further cooperation with the bank for the upcoming project.
At the session, representatives of the Asian Development Bank and the VNU-UEB discussed about research projects done by both parties. The ADB has proposed a number of research topics to cooperate with the UEB related to economic development, environment, and climate change, especially within the Greater Mekong Sub-region countries. The UEB agreed to review the recommended topics and provided some suggestions and discussion on concerned topics within the framework of Phnom Penh Plan for Development Management and among countries in Greater Mekong Sub-region.
The UEB Rector emphasized that besides activities such as cooperation, training, organizing conferences, etc., the major priority of the UEB in research include green growth, economic restructuring, integration and global issues. In the context that Vietnam is actively contributing to the development of the ASEAN Community by 2015, these subjects becomes particularly urgent for the GMS group, especially to the four countries Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, which are considered retarded groups in the region.
Through the technical discussion about the earlier projects, the ADB representatives appreciated the research quality of the UEB and expressed their desire to continue to collaborate with the university in furthers programs. To close the session, the two sides agreed to try to get an agreement for other research in the future. Obviously, this is the success of the university in developing its potentiality in research as well as strengthening its prestige and coperation relationship with international agencies, organizations and sponsors.

Mr. Alfredo Perdiguero expresses his high appreciation of the UEB’s research quality and hopes to have further cooperation with the university.