HSE University–St Petersburg Expands Partnership with Leading Vietnamese University
HSE University–St Petersburg welcomed a delegation from VNU University of Economics and Business (VNU-UEB). The visit took place in the framework of the year of Russian–Vietnamese relations.
The HSE University–St Petersburg Rope Shop building hosted negotiations on a partnership between representatives of educational institutions in Russia and Vietnam. The parties discussed the creation of short-term educational courses, the expansion of academic mobility programmes, and the development of joint research in economics and finance, as well as opportunities in the spheres of financial technology, digital economics, and creative industries.
Larisa Tsvetkova, Deputy Director for Science and Research at HSE University–St Petersburg, highlighted the special importance of the meeting in the context of developing Russian–Asian ties: 'Joint projects, student and faculty exchange, and the organisation of conferences are the directions in which we are ready to cooperate actively. VNU-UEB is rapidly climbing up the world rankings, and we are interested in enriching each other in terms of research and education. Today's meeting is an important interaction and a start to the discussion of specific cooperation directions.'
The delegation from VNU-UEB was headed by Nguyen Truc Le, the university president, who highlighted the strategic importance of this partnership: 'For Vietnam, the cooperation between our universities is truly important. The party and government are interested in developing educational ties with Russia. This is the first large official visit by our university to HSE University, and we are grateful for such a warm welcome. We would like to cooperate in short-term programmes on financial technologies and economics. In return, we would like to invite a delegation from your university to the international forum in April 2026.'
Maria Kiseleva, Head of the International Office at HSE University–St Petersburg, confirmed the university's commitment to expand academic mobility programmes. 'Many faculties of our university want to send our students to you for academic mobility. We have a great internal competition, which is why we ask to increase the number of places for our students. I represent HSE University in the Intergovernmental Russian–Vietnamese Commission. So all the initiatives we will discuss and start to implement will be presented at the highest level,' underscored Maria Kiseleva.
Academic supervisors of educational programmes and professors of the School of Economics and Management—Varvara Nazarova, Elena Zelenskaya, Boris Lodiagin, and Ekaterina Kozachenko—shared some opportunities and specialised programmes on machine learning, artificial intelligence, digital finance, economics of culture, and advanced training, which the faculty is ready to design for the needs of Vietnamese colleagues.
'It's important that there were some specific offers, and the demand of the Vietnamese party fully coincides with our capabilities. Advanced training is a less-traditional direction of negotiations, but this is a request we often receive from our international partners. Moreover, there is a demand for student mobility programmes and joint research. Our key advantage is that we can offer English-taught programmes, which not many universities do. This gives us strong hopes for successfully bringing our cooperation plans to life,' summed up Tatiana Lezina, Dean of the School of Economics and Management.
Following the meeting, the parties outlined the next steps to implement the partnership. The main coordinator from HSE University–St Petersburg is Maria Kiseleva, Head of the International Office, who will supervise all areas of cooperation.
The visit by the Vietnamese delegation was a logical step in continuing the active dialogue started at HSE University–St Petersburg International Partners' Week. In May, the university brought together more than 100 university representatives from 23 countries, including Vietnam. The event featured an open Vietnamese language lesson for students of Asian and African Studies and expert discussions about the development of educational and research ties between the countries.