SOVICO chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo (right) and Professor Nick Brown, principal of Linacre College, Oxford University, at the signing of the memorandum of understanding. — Photo courtesy of the company

GLASGOW — SOVICO Group signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK’s Oxford University on October 31 for cooperation and investment in research and education, including establishing a scholarship.

SOVICO chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo and Professor Nick Brown, principal of Linacre College, on behalf of the university, signed the agreement worth £155 million (US$211.5 million) in the presence of Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and senior Vietnamese and British officials.

Scholarships worth £7.5 million ($10.2 million) will be available to students from Việt Nam and other countries in the region to study and research in the world's leading educational environment at Oxford.

The university is also committed to developing and implementing a CO2 elimination strategy for SOVICO and its customers and partners by 2050.

Oxford University is one of the oldest integrated research universities in the world with 1,000 years of history. It offers a number of prestigious scholarships, including the Clarendon Scholarship, which has been in operation since 2001, and the Rhodes Scholarship, available for more than a century, which has helped bring elite post-graduate students from all over the world to study at Oxford.

Its alumni include many Nobel Prize winners, British prime ministers and leaders of many other countries.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Brown hailed the collaboration between SOVICO and Oxford University, saying the agreement would bring new developments in research at Oxford and offer the best study and research opportunities for students not only in Oxford but also in Việt Nam and many other countries.

Thảo said: “Education and research are the keys to the development and prosperity of mankind. I believe the long-term co-operation with Oxford University will bring new opportunities and good value to the community.”

At a reception for Brown, the PM said Oxford University should quickly implement the agreement, create conditions for Vietnamese students to have the opportunity to access the world's intellectual elite, especially in fields such as healthcare, pharmacy, computer science, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, environment, and climate change.

SOVICO’s agreement with Oxford University also underlines the role and vision of Vietnamese enterprises in international integration.

It was one of the important agreements signed by Vietnamese and UK businesses and organisations on the occasion of Chính’s visit to Britain. — VNS