Vietnamese culture is very attractive to Iranian people.

That was the comment of Mr. Sayed Kamal, President of the Iran - Vietnam Friendship Association during his visit to the University of Social Sciences and Humanities on the afternoon of October 13, 2010.

On behalf of the University, Associate Professor Dr. Lam Ba Nam - Vice Rector - provided information on research and training in fields related to Asia in general and Iran in particular at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. He also affirmed the University's leading position in research and training in Vietnamese language and culture.

Mr. Sayed Kamal and members of the delegation also introduced some features of Iran's higher education as well as some achievements that the country's education system has achieved in recent years.

Based on the information exchanged, the two sides affirmed the great potential for cooperation between the University and the Iran-Vietnam Friendship Association in particular and Iranian partners in general, especially in the fields of science and education. The beginning of the cooperation between the University and Iranian partners was very good, however, due to many reasons, the actual cooperation activities between the two sides in the past have not been commensurate with the available potential.

To further promote this relationship, some initial cooperation activities have been proposed such as: exchanging students and professors of the two countries; publishing books introducing Iranian language and culture in Vietnam and vice versa; organizing courses teaching each country's language and culture; implementing joint courses between the two sides or establishing a joint faculty specializing in research and training in Vietnamese and Iranian culture...

Mr. Sayed Kamal was the former Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Vietnam from 1996 to 2000, currently a professor of Sociology at Tehran University, has many works on Vietnam and has translated The Tale of Kieu into Persian. He said that the Iran - Vietnam Friendship Association was established in 2002 in Tehran with the aim of promoting positive mutual understanding between the people and governments of Vietnam and Iran. In recent years, the image of the country and people of Vietnam has left a very good impression in the minds of the Iranian people. The Iranian people admire many outstanding figures of the Vietnamese nation such as President Ho Chi Minh, General Vo Nguyen Giap... With many similarities in culture and history between the two countries, Vietnam is becoming more and more attractive in the eyes of the Iranian people. Therefore, the need and potential for cooperation between the two sides is very large.