Washington D.C. (VNA) – Chairman of the Hanoi People’sCommittee Nguyen Duc Chung held working sessions with authorities, businesscommunity and Harvard University in Boston city, the US state of Massachusettsduring his visit from July 12-14.

Talking with Nam Pham, Assistant Secretary of BusinessDevelopment and International Trade at the Massachusetts Governor Office, Chungsaid Hanoi wants to learn from the state’s latest advanced technologies inmedicine, information technology and other cooperation areas.

He asked the state to facilitate the forming of twiningrelationship between Hanoi and Massachusetts.

According to Nam Pham, Massachusetts leads the way globally inthe fields of biotechnology, information technology, finance, education andmaritime trade. Both sides could partner in tourism, education and health care.

The Vietnamese delegation visited a lab specialising in stemcell regeneration and gene modification at the Massachusetts General Hospital,and learnt about regenerative medicine, cell stem, genetics and cancertreatment.

During a working session with Partners HealthcareInternational (PHI), one of the world’s leading medical groups, Chung saidHanoi wants to cooperate with PHI in cancer treatment, hospital and healthinsurance management, upgrade of local medical establishments, and building adatabase on public health care.

Both sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) oncooperation in launching a modern and quality medical system in Hanoi anddiscussed planning for Hanoi’s health care system, utilising clinical services,enhancing community-based medical education, managing hospitals and building aninternational-standard general hospital in the capital city.

Hosting the delegation, Prof. Catherine E.Leopold from the HarvardMedical School introduced its learning model, and discussed the Partnership forHealth Advancement in Vietnam and post-tertiary programmes.

Chung hoped that the school would provide Hanoi medicalstaff with the latest professional knowledge, open distance courses to selectthe most promising candidates for study at Harvard.

At a working session with the Harvard Kennedy School, thetwo sides looked into ways to promote ties in personnel training.

The Hanoi leader said his visit is meant to learn from theUS’s experience in urban, transport and residential management, and health carepolicies. He spoke highly of the Vietnam Programme’s initiatives regarding reformof medical education and the importance of Fulbright University in high-qualitypersonnel training in Vietnam.

Thomas Vallely, founder of the Vietnam Programme, expressedhis willingness to help Hanoi improve public governance in the health sectorand make planning for public health care and environment protection.

While in Massachusetts, the delegation visitedMassChallenge, the world’s largest start-up incubator founded in 2010 withbusinesses from 50 countries worldwide, generating 10,000 jobs and earning 2billion USD from 2010-2016.

They also called at Autodesk innovative technology area, the160-year-old Omni Parker House where President Ho Chi Minh worked as a bakerfrom 1912-1913 during his journey for national salvation, the Boston PoliceHeadquarters and the Emergency Response Centre 911.-VNA