First UNESCO Category 2 Centres in Viet Nam officially inaugurated

Hosted by the Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology, the Centres will benefit from the engagement of national and regional research communities in physics and mathematics. They will provide key platforms for both regional and international capacity building in the basic sciences as well as to support research in ASEAN countries and in less developed countries and develop scientific events promoting knowledge sharing.

Now part of a broad and influential network, the Centres will closely collaborate with the International Basics Sciences Programme of UNESCO, the Abdus Salam International Centre of Theoretical Physics, the World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries and UNESCO's networks of Category 2 Centres and Chairs in the basic sciences.

Praising Viet Nam for its National Action Plan to Implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Irina Bokova affirmed that science, technology and innovation stand at its heart "because it is vital for the creation of knowledge, the sustainability of oceans, water management, and inclusive economic growth. For this we need the right ecosystem, to bridge knowledge divides inside countries and across the world."

Minister Chu Ngoc Anh, expressed confidence that "the Centres will contribute to the development of basic science in the region and beyond and enable Vietnamese scientists to work in closer collaboration with scientists around the world."

The signing ceremony establishing the Centres took place at the Ministry of Science and Technology where H.E. Mr Chu Ngoc Anh and Ms Bokova used the opportunity to also discuss further joint collaboration in this area, noting the importance of science to Viet Nam's continued socio-economic development and its important role in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Following the signing ceremony, the UNESCO Director-General visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex, established in 2014. The outstanding cultural value, exceptional natural beauty and significant geomorphic and physiographic features of the Complex reveal archaeological traces of human activity dating back almost 30,000 years. And, in telling the story of successive generations of hunter-gatherers who needed to adapt to different climatic and environmental changes, the Site has a message that resonates strongly today.

For more information, please contact:

• Ms. Christine Hanna, Communications and Reporting Officer, UNESCO Ha Noi Office, at c.hanna@unesco.org, +84 02438500186