President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (left) visits a showroom of agricultural products made from Việt Nam National University of Agriculture's research and development efforts as he attended a ceremony marking the Vietnamese Teachers’ Day (November 20) and the new academic year 2021-22 at the university on Saturday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc attended a ceremony marking the Vietnamese Teachers’ Day (November 20) and the new academic year 2021-22 at the Việt Nam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) in Hà Nội on Saturday.

Applauding the university’s achievements, the State leader underlined the future challenges facing Việt Nam’s agriculture and asked the VNUA to help the country’s agriculture sector gain a foothold, catch up with changes of the era, including digital transformation, and turn challenges into opportunities.

He affirmed that education-training is a national policy and science-technology the key to national development.

The university was one of the first higher education institutions to be established under Democratic Republic of Việt Nam, to realise President Hồ Chí Minh’s teaching in the very first days of the country’s founding “Prosperous farmers means prosperous country, a flourishing agriculture means a flourishing nation,” he noted.

The Party and State always trust and hope the VNUA will keep upholding its glorious tradition and making practical and effective contributions to sustainably developing agriculture, building new-style rural areas, and forming a class of civilised farmers, he said.

President Phúc requested the university strive to soon become an exemplary research university while boosting the combination of research activities with training and working to serve demand in society, especially in dealing with the country’s need to transform its economic model – moving from emphasis on quantity to quality, and a smaller size of agriculture sector in the GDP structure.

He also asked ministries and sectors to assist the VNUA to become an exemplary university and take part in the national target programme on new-style countryside building, the one on socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas, as well as other programmes in the future.

The leader expressed his hope that VNUA teachers and students will turn their enthusiasm and intelligence into an endless source of energy lighting up rural areas in Việt Nam.

He wants the university to focus their research on climate change-adapted agriculture, eco-agriculture, restructuring agriculture towards high added value models, and building rich, civilised new rural areas with overarching goal of sustainable development in mind.

On this occasion, the President presented the Meritorious Teacher title to 12 lecturers of the university. — VNS