Internationalization project update: the François Baclesse Cancer Center signs two major cooperation agreements with Vietnam

Sometimes you work hard and you obtain nothing or a marginal result, other times you work hard and you achieve the unexpected. This is an example of the latter. When at the end of 2019, Professor Marc-André Mahé, the Ceo of the François Baclesse Cancer Center in Caen Normandy asked us to support an internationalization project as part of his strategy, we could not have imagined the Covid pandemic was just around the corner.

Almost two years later, here we are, with a major achievement the François Baclesse team can be proud of. On the occasion of the Vietnamese Prime Minister, Mr Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit to France after the COP26 in Glasgow, the François Baclesse Cancer Centre, signed two international cooperation agreements in oncology with Vietnamese partners.

These two agreements were among another 27 which were all signed on the 4th of November in Paris, with companies such as Airbus, EDF (French national electricity company), Banque Paribas, Sanofi Pasteur and others adding up to several billion dollars.

The first is a framework partnership agreement with the K Hospital in Hanoi (the leading cancer hospital of Vietnam) to mutually cooperate on three shared areas of focus: Care, Training and Research.

The second agreement is a memorandum of understanding with the Group T&T Co. Limited, represented by its Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Do Quang Hien. The T&T Group is a major multi-field investment group, located in Vietnam (100,000 employees) with an international Health Division.

We are well aware this is just the first step in building these relationships and that a lot more work will need to be accomplished to make these partnerships effective and fruitful.

However, it is insightful to look back and analyze how we got this far:

1. Unconditional support from top management: The senior management team unrelentlessly supported the project, even when other priorities came up. Covid not only prevented us from traveling but it also mobilized significant hospital resources and energy.
2. Dedicating sufficient resources and always working as a team: In Paris last week, we were the only delegation with five members including the Ceo, Prof. Marc-André Mahé, Prof. Jean-Louis Habrand, radiation oncologist, Dr. Carine Segura, president of the medical committee, Hermeline Delepouve, director of communication, international relations and myself.
3. Networking and working continuously in cooperation with our partners: We have been supported from the beginning by the Normandy Region headed by its President, Hervé Morin and his team, the AIC Group headed by Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan and our local advisor, Mr. Thang Mai
4. A multidisciplinary team able to leverage complementary skill sets: Namely, the François Baclesse communication and international relations director, Hermeline Delepouve and Sophie Taillard, a member of her team. Marie-Pierre Desannaux, the executive assistant and many others it would take too long to list...
5. Never giving up. It was not always easy to stay focused and motivated as visits and exchanges had to be postponed or canceled, as emails and calls were not being replied to, as the world's countries closed and focused on domestic priorities.

Opening up to the world sounds and seems like something simple and easy to do, but it's not, especially for a hospital. An internationalization project such as this one, aiming to set up partnerships in the domains of treatment, education and research with other cancer institutions around the world, is a very demanding and challenging objective.

The François Baclesse Cacer Center will be celebrating its centenary in 2023 and it is doing everything it can to enter in its second century of existence with a broader, richer and more global reach, built on a solid network of prosperous exchanges with its new partners.

Latest French and Vietnamese press articles regarding the agreements and the cooperation between the two countries:

https://ampe.vnexpress.net/news/business/vietnam-france-sign-billion-dollar-agreements-during-pm-chinh-s-visit-4381552.html

http://m.hanoitimes.vn/solidarity-of-people-businesses-to-propel-vietnam-france-relations-pm-319184.html

https://www.ouest-france.fr/normandie/caen-14000/le-centre-baclesse-de-caen-signe-deux-accords-en-cancerologie-avec-le-vietnam-0b5a71ae-3e58-11ec-8764-2050936eeb37