(VOVworld) - The Paris-based Companion Fund has presented more than 3,100 scholarships worth a total 260,000 EUR to students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Vietnamese universities over the past 15 years of operation.

A representative of the Vietnamese Embassy in France (left) presents followers for Pham Thanh Trung, President of the Companion Fund. (Photo: Bich Ha/Vietnam+)

At the fund’s founding anniversary ceremony in Paris on Saturday, the fund was established in July 2001 by a group of Vietnamese students at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, who wanted to support their less fortunate peers back home. The fund’s first activity, a fundraising campaign themed “The right to dream” was successful beyond expectations, presenting scholarships to 17 students in Ho Chi Minh City.