The University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice continues to develop its cooperation with Vietnamese universities. On 9 and 10 September 2026, two consecutive meetings took place, opening up new opportunities for concrete academic cooperation between the University of South Bohemia and Hanoi University (HANU).
The first step was the 2nd Czech–Vietnamese Round Table on Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, held on 9 September at the Embassy of Vietnam in Prague. The University of South Bohemia was represented at the meeting by the Vice-Rector for International Relations, prof. Ing. Vladimír Žlábek, Ph.D.
A significant outcome of the meeting was the signing of a framework Memorandum of Understanding between the University of South Bohemia and Hanoi University, which establishes a basis for the further development of mutual relations. Already during the preparations for the meeting, areas such as the teaching of the Czech language and Czech studies, academic cooperation and other joint university activities had been identified as promising.
The Prague meeting was immediately followed by a visit of a Hanoi University delegation to the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice on 10 September. The Vietnamese university was represented by its Rector, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Trao, and the Director of the International Office, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tan. On behalf of the University of South Bohemia, the meeting was attended by representatives of the university management, the Faculty of Economics, the Faculty of Education and the International Relations Office.
After the delegation had been welcomed and the University of South Bohemia introduced, a presentation of Hanoi University followed, together with a discussion focused on specific opportunities for academic cooperation. The Rector of Hanoi University outlined the areas in which HANU sees the greatest potential for the further development of mutual relations. The main topics included above all student mobility, mobility of academic and non-academic staff, and the search for opportunities to establish direct links between individual departments of the two universities.
Specific options were subsequently discussed by representatives of the individual faculties as well. The Faculty of Economics proposed the creation of an online space that would make it possible to connect the individual departments of both universities, present their respective areas of expertise to one another and identify fields suitable for joint teaching, research or other academic activities.
Another important topic was the teaching of the Czech language at HANU. Representatives of the Faculty of Education joined the discussion. The Rector of HANU expressed interest in reviving Czech language teaching at HANU and building on the tradition that the Czech language previously had at the university. The teaching of Czech had already been identified as one of the promising areas of cooperation during the preparations for the visit.
The meeting demonstrated the interest of both institutions in moving the newly concluded memorandum from a general framework towards concrete joint activities. Both parties therefore agreed to exchange direct contacts between the relevant departments and to continue negotiations so that the first specific forms of cooperation can be launched as soon as possible.
The signed memorandum and the subsequent meeting in České Budějovice thus represent a further step in the development of the University of South Bohemia's relations with its Vietnamese partners and open up new opportunities for student and staff mobility, teaching and academic cooperation.
