UM forges partnership with Vietnam

My, how times have changed.

UM signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam on Aug. 12 for student and faculty exchanges with the Southeast Asia country. The agreement includes curricula and information sharing.

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus probably summed it up best when he said, “It’s amazing to me that 30 years ago Vietnam was an enemy.” Baucus’ office was instrumental in making the agreement possible and helped Vietnam gain Permanent Normal Trade Relations with the U.S. in 2006.

Perhaps it’s appropriate that UM President George Dennison led Le Cong Phung, Vietnam’s ambassador to the United States, past the University’s statue of Maureen and Mike Mansfield on the way to the signing ceremony.

Mike Mansfield, the Montana statesman who became the county’s longest-serving U.S. Senate majority leader (not to mention a namesake of UM’s largest library), was a U.S. ambassador to Japan and always had an abiding interest in Asia. Dennison believes Mansfield would have been proud.

“The University is eager to welcome Vietnamese students and faculty to campus,” Dennison said, “and we look forward to sending Montana students and faculty to study at Vietnam’s universities. This is as much a benefit to us as it is to Vietnam.”

Baucus said trade between Vietnam and the U.S. has burgeoned 700 percent since 2000. He said it’s a country of 85 million entrepreneurial, hard-working people, where 50 percent of the population is under age 25.

Phung said his country has about 7,000 students studying in the U.S., and the country would like to increase that number to 10,000.

Ambassadors to the U.S. from Colombia, Morocco, New Zealand and Peru also attended the formal signing ceremony, which was held in the University Center.

Mehrdad Kia, UM associate provost for International Programs, said campus now boasts 86 international partnerships, and the University has 500 international students from 73 countries.