Vietnam

On 25th September 2002 an agreement was signed amont the Governmen of the Kingdom Belgium and the Socialistic Republic of Vietnam with regard to scientific and technological cooperation.

In this framework joint calls for proposals are organised. During the Mixed Commission Meetings the projects are selected; these are executed jointly by Belgian and Vietnamese research teams.

Calls for joint research proposals  (2002, 2006, 2009)

• Calll 2003 (Mixed Commission Meeting of 13-14 October, Hanoi) 
  5 Multidisciplinary projects are funded in the domains of aquaculture and water management (sustainable production, environmental challenges, food safety)
  Execution of the projects: period 2004-2006
  
  
• Call 2006 (Mixed Commission Meeting of 8-9 June, Brussels)
  8 Projects are funded ( period 2007-2009).
  Focus of the call:
  • aquaculture, including food standards and environmental aspects;
  • biodiversity and agro-biotechnology, as a source for new materials, renewable energy and new drugs.
    
    
• Call 2008 (Mixed Commission Meeting on 2 March 2009, Hanoi)
  8 projects were funded  (2010-2012) coering the following domains:
  • Biodiversity and agro-biotechnologiy as a source for new materials, renewable energy and new drugs; 
  • Climate change (impact, adaptation and mitigation)
  • Space applications via the earth observation programme STEREO and via  ESA programmes.

On 21 June 2012 the fourth Joint Committee meeting was held in Brussels. The cooperation instruments as well as the BELSPO BRAIN and the Space programmes (ESA and STEREO) were presented. The Vietnamese delegation visited several federal institutions and two project teams from the 2009 call (KUL and UCL-VUB), as well as the SCK-CEN in Mol and the Cyclotron in Louvain-la-Neuve.

In October 2015 a high-level Vietnamese delegation again visited BELSPO in the framework of a programme of visits to the EC and to Member States interested in collaboration in the field of Space.

During the Joint Committee meeting on economic collaboration that took place in Brussels on 23 November 2015, the interest in collaboration in the field of Space was established, in particular for the development of a 'Space law' and the development of microsatellites and applications of earth observation.

On 22th  september 2016, the 5th meeting of the Joint Commitee for R&D cooperation was held in Hanoi. The BELSPO and the MOST programmes and cooperation instruments were presented.
It was agreed to launch a joint call for collaborative research proposals  focussed on the following theme 'Climate and Natural Disaster Resilience'.

On March 15th 2018 a call for research proposals is joinlty launched by BELSPO and by MOST. The call focus is 'Climate and Disaster Resilence' (CLIMDIS). As a result of the peer review process 2 projets are funded (December 2019 - March 2023): CLIMDIS (RBINS) and MINERVA (VITO)

On 27th June 2023, the 6th meeting of the Joint Commitee for R&D cooperation was held in Brussels.. Information on evolving STI policies from both sides was exchanged as well as the progress of ongoing climate change related projects. BELSPO insisted on the need for careful exploring and grasp, at both sides, the diverse cooperation channels offered at European side (eg. via the Horizon Europe program) or in other frameworks, for example UNESCO programs. They allow to capitalize on the bilateral efforts and results in a broader funding and a longer-term impactful cooperation perspective. A new joint research call was jointly launched in autumn 2023. As a result of the call focusing on • Biodiversity (nature-based solutions/environmental accounting, focus on the mangrove ecosystem) and on • Geoheritage and geo-hazards (focus on Karst areas) , 2 inter-disciplinary research projects are funded : ENVIRONED (VUB, ULB) and GEO²KA (RBINS). Both align with objectives of UNESCO’s programs MAB (Man and the Biosphere Programme) or IGGP (International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme).