The event, co-organised by the National Traffic Safety Committee and the Vietnam-Germany University, aimed to prepare for the launch of a network of excellence (NoE), with the participation of international and Vietnamese universities and organisations, State agencies, and businesses on conducting research to improve Vietnam’s traffic safety.
The NoE is expected to facilitate policy building and action plans for traffic safety in Vietnam at both national and local levels, from the lessons learnt by Belgium and other participating parties.
Speaking at the workshop, Vice Chairman of National Traffic Safety Committee, Khuat Viet Hung, highly appreciated the cooperation between Vietnamese and Belgian scientists in finding out traffic accident causes and reviewing domestic and international experience so as to work out feasible solutions to traffic safety in Vietnam.
According to Hung, traffic accidents claimed the lives of more than 8,000 people across Vietnam in 2018, causing economic losses from US$5 billion to US$12 billion every year.
Therefore, he stressed that the cooperation among the State, scientists, businesses and organisations in ensuring traffic safety is crucial to resolve the challenge.
Professor Geert Wets from Belgium’s Transportation Research Institute shared research on traffic safety policies in the northern regions of his country with a focus on raising drivers’ knowledge and driving techniques.
