The Consul General of Italy has expressed his delight that the exhibition opens right on the occasion of the National Space Day of Italy (December 16): “As one of the pioneers in the space sector, Italy is a key member of the European Space Agency. Italy holds a monopoly position as one of the only countries with adequate space supply chains. And the Italian space industry has a long tradition of international cooperation such as joint research programs, scientific activities, training and capacity building with many countries, including Vietnam, “said Mr. Enrico Padula.

At the event, visitors have a chance to enjoy the works of art taken from the Italian COSMO-Skymed satellite system, including two photos featuring Hanoi’s capital and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta through satellite photography. Dr. Lam Dao Nguyen also introduced the usefulness of the global satellite system, which includes Italian satellites that contribute to many areas of life such as space technology, agriculture, disaster prevention, etc.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ph.D. Phan Thi Viet Nam – Vice President of Hoa Sen University emphasized the importance of applying science and technology to life. 

“The satellite images on display at this exhibition will help us better understand the human planet, thereby promoting our shared responsibility for the human home – the Earth.�? Ph.D. Phan Thi Viet Nam.

It is a great pleasure for Hoa Sen University to be the only educational partner in the South in collaboration with the Consulate General in HCMC to organize this significant exhibition.

The exhibition will be held continuously in 2 locations:

• Phase 1: From 16/12/2022 to 26/12/2022 (at Nguyen Van Trang campus)
• Phase 2: From 27/12/2022 to 7/1/2022 (at Thanh Thai campus).

It is a pleasure for Hoa Sen University to be the only educational partner in the Southern region to coordinate with the Italian Embassy in Ho Chi Minh City to organize this event.

Time and Venue:

• Phase 1: from 16/12/2022 – 26/12/2022, Lobby of Nguyen Van Trang Campus;
• Phase 2: from 27/12/2022 �?07/01/2022, Thanh Thai Campus.

The Opening Ceremony: 09:30 a.m., Friday, December 16th at the Lobby of Nguyen Van Trang Campus with the presence of the Consul General of Italy in Ho Chi Minh City, Board of Directors of Hoa Sen University, distinguished guests, and press reporters.

As we all know, satellites populate the terrestrial orbit with diversified applications ranging, from meteorology, agriculture, industry, and military, to the exploitation and maintenance of biodiversity…

However, “Looking Beyond” this time doesn’t aim at dealing with the use or the technical characteristics of satellites, it aims at dealing with their unexpected, intrinsic, and mysterious beauty through the unique artworks about Earth. These photos were taken from the COSMO-SkyMed constellation – the most advanced SAR satellite, which is funded by The Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defense Defense.

“Looking Beyond” is curated by Filippo Maggia, one of the most internationally known Italian experts in the field of contemporary photography.  The exhibition has many themes: Agriculture; Infrastructure and development, cities and metropolises of the world; Climate change or environmental disasters; hidden places revealed by satellite images (archaeological sites, villages, remote islands, atolls)…

“Looking Beyond�?is expected to welcome tens of thousands of visitors during the three-day exhibition.

Mrs. Maayan Ben Tura said that Israel is a small country in terms of area and population, with 60% of its area being dry desert, often suffering from drought and lack of running water.

In order to overcome this challenge, Israel has actively applied initiatives such as research and development of seawater disinfection technology, and wastewater treatment for reuse in agriculture, industry, and urban areas… As a result, this Middle East country has now raised the total capacity of seawater desalination to more than 750 million m3/year, which is enough to meet over 90% of people’s domestic water demand. “Turn every obstacle into an advantage�? Mrs. Maayan Ben Tura said, sharing the key point that makes Israel’s “water revolution. �?/p>

In addition, Israel is also known as a “startup country” on a global scale with more than 10,000 startups established in just 10 years (2008 – 2019).

Also, she said that entrepreneurship has been planted in the hearts and minds of people since they were children. In high schools and universities, students are encouraged to build start-up projects with their own ideas, even though those ideas are sometimes very early.

One notable thing that Israel’s senior female diplomat shares with the students of Hoa Sen University are: The Israelis treat anyone whose business has failed with great appreciation. According to this high-ranking diplomat, failure is always evident in people and is a period of transition to a more successful stage.

“We don’t see failing young people to start a business as a failure. You may not succeed for many reasons, such as lack of capital, experience, and network… And this is when the Government comes to your side to support you”, Mrs. Maayan Ben Tura said.

She also did not forget to tell the keyword “Dare” to embark on practical work, dare to ask critical questions, dare to challenge yourself, and never be satisfied with an available solution�?/p>

Mrs. Maayan Ben Tura was surprised and interested to receive many questions from Hoa Sen students interested in this topic, especially about your confidence and good English ability.

This is also the strength of Sen students because they are educated in an educational environment according to international standards, creating the opportunity to practice with the spirit of Entrepreneur even as a student.

At the Vietnam – New Zealand Education Cooperation Forum, Dr. Phan Thi Viet Nam represented BOD of Hoa Sen University in the signing protocol of cooperation documents with leading New Zealand universities in the presence of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and senior leaders of the two countries. During this working trip, HSU was honored to be one of two non-public universities with 20 major public universities of Vietnam participating in the important foreign working trip of the National Assembly of Vietnam. Through a working trip, Hoa Sen University and some leading universities in New Zealand agreed to cooperate in training, academic exchange, research cooperation, and enabling students to experience each other’s diverse learning environment…

By participating in critical foreign activities of the Vietnam National Assembly and the Ministry of Education and Training, Hoa Sen University has demonstrated the status and prestige of a non-public university in training and scientific research.

This is also the university’s priority in continuing to find, build and maintain cooperative relationships with major universities around the world, opening up many opportunities for exchange, learning, and employment for students in accordance with international standards in the current era of strong globalization.

Mr. Angulo gave a brief introduction about JCI: JCI is a global movement with a history of nearly 170 years. JCI is present in over 115 countries and includes almost 5000 JCI communities worldwide. JCI’s mission and vision are to provide development opportunities that empower young people to create positive change and to be the leading global network of young active citizens.

All members of JCI have the opportunity to participate in activities and events to learn and improve leadership skills. According to Mr. Angulo’s introduction, JCI provides two main learning forms for members to participate in. First is learning through training sessions with diverse topics such as time management, public speaking, etc. Second, learning by doing: members will practice leadership skills through JCI projects. Mr. Angulo believes that learning by doing is the best way to practice and develop the skills needed for future leaders.

Through events and workshops on a global scale, JCI has set goals to address specific issues such as inequality and injustice, poverty, and climate change…by identifying responsibility as one of the critical elements that future leaders must have.

Assoc. Vo Thi Ngoc Thuy, President of Hoa Sen University, said that Hoa Sen University shares the same vision and mission as JCI. At Hoa Sen University, students have the best opportunities to train themselves with the necessary skills to prepare them for the journey to become global citizens and future leaders.

Hoa Sen University is recognized by international organizations such as NEAS, FIBAA, ACBSP, etc. Because of this, the learning environment at Hoa Sen is ideal for the current generation of young students. Thus, Hoa Sen University wishes to join and become a member of the JCI organization for the long-term development of students and the school.

Sir Steve Smith was knighted in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Ceremony for his contributions to higher education at the local and national levels. This is a highly noble title that is included in the UK’s honors system. In addition, Prof Sir Steve Smith is also the UK’s Global Education Ambassador, the highest diplomatic rank in the UK’s education sector.

This visit by Sir Steve Smith is a great honor and pride of HSU. At the same time, it was also a pleasure to welcome the UK Senior Leadership Team and DMU, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Training, and the State Agency in HCMC, to witness the signing of this important collaboration and listen to the valuable sharing from Prof Sir Steve Smith:

From the Government of the United Kingdom:

• Prof Sir Steve Smith – UK Government International Education Champion;
• Wendy Alexander �?Scottish Government International Trade & Investment Envoy for Higher Education, Vice-Principal University of Dundee;
• Mr. Rupert Daniels �?Director Digital, Services and Skills, Department for International Trade.

From the British Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City:

•  His Majesty Consul General Emily Hamblin, British Consulate-General Ho Chi Minh City.

From De Montfort University (UK):

• Mr. Ian Thomas, Associate Dean, Leicester Castle Business School
• Dr. Neil Hart, Head of Transnational Education

From Moet and the State Agency in Ho Chi Minh City:

• Mr. Le Thang Loi Deputy Director of the Office of Southern Education Development Center Ministry of Education and Training;

• Mr. Pham Dut Diem, Deputy Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City

From Hoa Sen University:

• Assoc. Prof and Ph.D., Vo Thi Ngoc Thuy, Principle of Hoa Sen University;
•  Together with members of the Board of directors.

Let us listen to the very valuable words of Professor Sir Steve Smith �?the UK’s global education ambassador to Hoa Sen University!

Witnessing the signing ceremony attended by Prof Sir Steve Smith, UK Government International Education Champion, Ms. Emily Hamblin – British Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam and many distinguished guests.

In the academic year of 2023-2024, HSU will deliver 04 undergraduate and graduate programs including Marketing BA, Accounting BSc, International Business and The English Language Teaching MA. Other programs will also be continued for the next academic years.

“We have a strong belief that the cooperative relationship between the two universities will definitely achieve the set goals, contributing to the implementation of the UK and Vietnam strategy of cooperation in the field of higher education. This partnership will also contribute to training and providing the society with human resources that are fully equipped with knowledge and skills, enable students to be ready to participate in the competitive labor market of Vietnam today�? Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vo Thi Ngoc Thuy, President of HSU said.

Sharing more with students at the signing ceremony, Mr. Simon Bradbury – Vice President of DMU emphasized DMU’s vision to bring the best learning opportunities to students wherever they are in the world “and the partnership with HSU marks the next important milestone in the journey we are pursuing�?

This is a thematic activity followed by a series of knowledge-sharing workshops for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam with the aim of providing information on the domestic economy recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. It also helps SMEs community overcome difficulties and turn challenges into opportunities to develop the domestic economy.

Dr. Phan Vo Minh Thang, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business, HSU emphasized the fact that the global economy has been heavily affected by the pandemic for over 2 years, and now continues to face the risk of an inflection crisis, energy scarcity in many parts of the world. Also, broken-down supply chains, high raw material prices, a big number of bankrupt businesses, and a high percentage of unemployment is becoming critical issue currently.

“Therefore, the presence of keynote speakers from diverse backgrounds will contribute to the success of the seminar.”, said Dr. Phan Vo Minh Thang.

At the conference, hundreds of representatives of SMEs participated both at the Hoa Sen University auditorium and virtually to listen to sharing from experts of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Hoa Sen University, Amazon Global Selling Vietnam, UL Solutions Vietnam, MasterCard and Meta.

Mr. Huynh Kim Tuoc, Vice Chairman of the Division of Digital Economy & Technology (AmCham), said that Amcham and its members are willing to accompany Vietnam’s SMEs in order to overcome the impact of COVID-19 for sustainable business development.

Mr. Duong Anh Duc, Vice Chairman of HCMC People Committee
President VO THI NGOC THUY, Hoa Sen Faculty members, Distinguished Guests, Students & Parents

Xin Chao! It’s my great honour to join you today for the Opening Ceremony of the Academic Year at Hoa Sen.

A little bit about myself:

�?Originally from New Zealand – I have been living in Vietnam for 10 years now.

�?I don’t speak Vietnamese, but I have recorded a Vietnamese song by Trinh Cong Son!

�?My wife is a leading voice on women leadership in Vietnam.

�?My son is a fluent Vietnamese speaker.

�?I trained as a lawyer. My first career was as a Diplomat. Now I am managing director of an international consulting business.

How many of you know what a Diplomat does?

A Diplomat represents their country internationally. Supporting businesses, trade, building relationships with government and people in the country where they are working, promoting cultural understanding, supporting peace and security.

I did this for 20 years, in many parts of the world from India to China to Brazil and finally in Vietnam. It was an amazing and privileged career.

In my job, I met Presidents, Prime Ministers, spiritual leaders, famous movie stars, billionaires, and top businesspeople.

How did I get there?

Well, first off, it wasn’t always my dream to be a Diplomat. When I started university, like you are now, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do once I graduated.

At first, I thought I would study accounting. Then I studied Japanese. Then I gave that up and studied law instead.

It was only after about 4 years at university that I started to think “hey, being a Diplomat could be interesting!�?br>

So, my first reflection to you today is this: it’s ok if you haven’t yet decided what comes next after university �?what your first job might be. Don’t rush into a decision �?you have time!

The second reflection I wish to share with you is this:

As you get older, it is easy to get swept along by everything going on around you. The pace of life seems to be speeding up year by year.

As you gain power and influence, it is easy to be distracted by things like status and money.

This is why it is so important to be yourself, and to be your best self.

What does this mean to me?

To me, this means three things:

1. Be humble. Always treat people with respect. Treat people the way you yourself would like to be treated.
   
2. Be open and be curious. Always keep learning. Never assume you know everything �?you don’t!
   
3. Act with purpose. Think about how what you do contributes to the community you live in. We all go through this life together.
   

The third and final reflection I want to offer is to appreciate the good things in life: your friends, family, a good conversation, nature.

The author James Clear �?who is an excellent modern thinker – puts it this way:

“For those who expect everything, there are many curses.
For those who appreciate everything, there are many blessings�?br>

Dear Students, it is such an exciting time to be a young Vietnamese �?and to be a new university student.

Trust me: These days there is a lot of international attention and excitement about Vietnam so you will have many opportunities in the coming years �?not just here in Vietnam but also around the world.

In the meantime: Study hard, have fun, and always remember to be your best self.

All the best!