The government of the Russian Federation has reaffirmed its support for Lao students and government officials to study for bachelor and master’s degrees at Russian universities, it was announced last week.
The support comes under the Human Resource Development Cooperation Programme between Laos and Russia aiming to broaden the knowledge of Lao students and government officials in Russia.
A scholarship handover ceremony was held last week at the Russian embassy in Vientiane in the presence of Minister of Education and Sports Ms Sengdeuane Lachanthaboun, Director General of the Europe and America Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Khouanta Phalivong, and Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Laos Mr Mikhail V. Baranov.
“Since 2013, the programme has played an important role in human resource development in Laos. There were about 25 scholarships under this programme in 2014 and 38 scholarships in 2015,” Mr Baranov said.
This year 87 Lao students and government officials will study for bachelor degrees in Russia and 11 for master’s degrees in the fields of state and municipal administration, international relations, finance and credit, economics, engineering, medicine and others.
Mr Baranov said the Russian Federation had been supporting human resource development in Laos for several years with Lao students and government officials having been the beneficiaries of this programme which offers one-year scholarships for bachelor and master’s degrees.
The Russian Federation was continuing to support the efforts of the Lao government to fulfil the potential of the younger generation and hasten socio- economic development, he said.
Before their departure for Russia last year the Lao awardees studied Russian for six months at the Russian Scientific and Cultural Centre in Vientiane.
The ambassador expressed his confidence that graduating Lao students would return to make a significant contribution to the development of Laos and further expand the friendly ties between the two countries.
Minister of Education and Sports Ms Sengdeuane Lachanthaboun said these scholarship students played an important role in human resource development in Laos.
“I hope that these scholarship students will become a bridge connecting our two countries in the future,” she added.
According to the Russian Embassy to Laos, more than 8,000 Lao citizens have graduated from universities in the former Soviet Union and Russia. The break-up of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s saw a decrease in the number of Lao students studying there but collaboration between Laos and Russia has since been rejuvenated.
Source: Vientiane Times
