Mr Tô Lâm, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam visited Trinity on Wednesday, October 2nd as part of his state visit to Ireland. Mr. Lâm was welcomed to Trinity by Vice Provost Prof. Orla Sheils and Patrick O’Donovan, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and visited the Book of Kells exhibition.
Following the experience of Typhoon Yagi in early September, Vietnam has been hit with catastrophic human and economic losses. Delivering an address on ‘A Vision for a New Era of Vietnam – Ireland Partnership for Peace, Cooperation and International Development,’ in Trinity’s Public Theatre, Mr. Lâm drew links between Ireland and Vietnam’s struggle for independence, praised Ireland’s economic success story and thanked the Irish government for the support granted to Vietnam in areas such as poverty reduction, post-war recovery, and assistance for vulnerable groups for the past three decades.
The Irish government has established a strategic partnership on higher education between the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and the Irish Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. A memorandum of understanding has also been signed between the Vietnam National University and leading Irish universities. Meanwhile, College is introducing a management and economics training programme in partnership with Vietnam National University building on existing partnerships with Vietnamese universities.
Mr Lâm previously drew criticism from Western governments, notably the U.S., for welcoming Russian President Vladimir Putin to Vietnam in June and for Vietnamese foreign policy which generally involves maintaining friendly relations with all major powers including Russia and China.
This visit marks the first visit of any Vietnamese president to Ireland with President Higgins and his wife Sabina hosting a state dinner in honour of Mr Lâm. During his time in Ireland Mr Lâm also visited the Garden of Remembrance, the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Government Buildings where he met Taoiseach Simon Harris. Further strengthening ties, the state visit announced the opening of a Vietnamese Embassy in Dublin.
