In October 2023, the city of Hanoi, for the first time at a state level, hosted the Fo­rum of Foreign Graduates from Soviet and Russian Universities – representatives of the educa­tion and healthcare systems of Asian countries (Fig.1). This large-scale Forum, organized by Rossotrudnichestvo and Human­itarian Education and Testing Institute, was attended by rep­resentatives from 13 countries— Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, In­donesia, China, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Paki­stan, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Af­ter the Forum, the graduates of Soviet and Russian universities from different countries shared their thoughts on the future of relations between Russia and the countries of Southeast Asia.

 

Q1. What is your impression of the Forum?

 

Answers

Dr Hlaing Min Oo (Myan­mar), “I would like to express my special respect and pride to the organizers for the invitation to take part in this sonorous Forum. I also thank all the forum partic­ipants for the topical problems discussed at the Forum and for your interesting experience in promoting education and health­care. I received a lot of impor­tant and valuable information. Truly a wonderful and amazing Forum. Everything went at the highest level and made a strong impression. The sympathetic, warm attitude towards me from the organizers of this Forum will forever remain in my memory.”

 

Siviengphet Phetvorasak (Lao), “The Forum in Hanoi, in the Socialist Republic of Viet­nam, has become the most im­portant platform for discussing problems related to the current state and development of ed­ucation and healthcare in the Russian Federation and Asian countries. The Forum allowed participants to share opinions on current aspects of education and healthcare and get to know each other. In addition, the Fo­rum contributed significantly to developing and strengthen­ing friendship and cooperation between foreign graduates of Soviet and Russian universities and leaders of Russian universi­ties. In short, the Forum in Hanoi has conquered the hearts of all participants, especially the del­egation of Laos.”

 

Jainal Abedin (Bangla­desh), “This was a unique event for graduates of Soviet and Rus­sian universities, which will re­main forever in our memory. The Forum in Hanoi was very useful for developing relations between the Russian Federation govern­ment authorities and alumni as­sociations of Asian countries.”

Dr Ratindra Nath (Nepal), “It was a wonderful experience because after a long break, we, graduates of Soviet and Russian universities from Asian coun­tries, had an excellent opportu­nity to communicate with each other, as well as with senior officials of Rossotrudnichestvo and leading Russian universi­ties. We shared our experience about the functioning of educa­tion and healthcare systems in our countries. Everything was great, but two days were insuf­ficient for such a large-scale event. Rectors of Russian uni­versities spoke about university academic programmes and the latest achievements of Russian science and technology. They invited international students to their universities for higher education. As Russian universi­ty leaders want to increase the number of international students from Asian countries, they need to understand that our educa­tion system differs greatly from theirs. They must adapt their training programs and intern­ship systems to our national characteristics. We are ready to assist them in carrying out this work.”

 

Ravdanzhamts Urgamal (Mongolia), “I think that the Fo­rum is a HOLIDAY not only for me but also for all graduates of Russian and Soviet educational institutions. Therefore, I would like to congratulate all partic­ipants, organizers, and guests of the Forum once again on this wonderful day of our meeting on behalf of the Mongolian As­sociation of Soviet and Russian University Graduates (MAVSUZ) and myself personally! And I want to thank the organizers, and from the bottom of my heart, I wish you all health, happiness, prosperity and prosperity! Thank you - Vietnam!”

 

Hasan Shahid (Pakistan), “The Forum was organized with the participation of 13 Asian countries, namely Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Chi­na, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thai­land and Sri Lanka. Thanks to the efforts of the Humanitarian Education and Testing Institute and the Rossotrudnichestvo team headed by the Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo Pavel Shevtsov, the Forum created an atmosphere for fruitful work and further cooperation.”

 

Q2- Which Forum events do you particularly remember?

Dr Hlaing Min Oo (Myan­mar): “I have special memories about the grand opening ceremo­ny of the Forum, during which the leaders of Rossotrudnich­estvo, rectors and vice-rectors of Russian universities, and Forum participants from 13 countries were represented. It was also interesting to listen to reports, state problems and exchange opinions expressed by famous people during discussions (round tables), and take part in an ad­vanced training course for for­eign graduates, “Management in Education and Healthcare”, which was conducted by expe­rienced teachers.”

 

Siviengphet Phetvorasak (Lao): “My special memories are related to the round table “Development of cooperation in the sphere of education and healthcare between Russia and Asian countries”, which allowed me and my colleagues from other Asian countries to discuss issues related to interaction with Rus­sia in the field of education and healthcare, share experience, find common ground and attract attention of Soviet and Russian university graduates on the role of Russian as a foreign language in Asian countries. In addition, we exchanged up-to-date tech­nologies with the representa­tives of Russian universities and received recommendations which were useful for the round table participants.”

 

Jainal Abedin (Bangla­desh): “It was the second day when, within the framework of the sections, we could hear speeches from many repre­sentatives of the Russian dele­gation. There were also inter­esting speeches in Russian by graduates from different Asian countries.”

 

Dr Ratindra Nath (Nepal): “I really liked the plenary ses­sion, where the leaders of grad­uate associations from different Asian countries took the floor. They talked about their achieve­ments in the fields of education and healthcare. Along with the leaders of associations, the Fo­rum brought together successful graduates who have achieved significant career heights in sci­ence, education, and healthcare. One of the sections of the Forum was devoted to strengthening scientific cooperation and the implementation of joint scien­tific projects by scientists from Russia and Asian countries. Particular attention was paid to the proliferation of the Russian language, literature and culture in Asian countries, and the de­velopment of education in the Russian language.”

 

Ravdanzhamts Urgamal (Mongolia): “I liked all the Fo­rum events. It was useful and interesting. What I remember most is the advanced training course for the graduates, where we worked in groups, got to know each other and discussed issues common to us related to teaching the Russian language in Asian countries. It means that a criti­cal discussion took place at the Forum.”

 

TO BE CONTINUED