Foreign Trade University has just become the latest Vietnamese university to join the ASEAN University Network - Quality Assurance (AUN-QA), its rector said.

Established in 1960 with its main campus located in Ha Noi and two other campuses in Ho Chi Minh City and Quang Ninh Province, Foreign Trade University (FTU) is among the most prestigious universities in Viet Nam, covering a wide range of areas from economics and business to law and foreign languages.

According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Anh Tuan, rector of FTU, the university has officially become an Associate Member of the Southeast Asian quality assurance network AUN-QA.

The front gate of the main campus of Foreign Trade University in Ha Noi

ASEAN University Network is an independent organisation working to promote human resource development in the field of tertiary education among Southeast Asian nations and their partners.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a ten-member political and economic organisation that includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Viet Nam.

One of the key activities of AUN is assuring level quality among universities in ASEAN through its Quality Assurance assessment system.

Dr. Bui Anh Tuan asserted that becoming an Associate Member of AUN-QA is a crucial launching platform for the improvement of the university’s curricula.

“[Through being assessed and verified by AUN-QA], the university will have more opportunity to cooperate with AUN and its partners in education activities, scientific studies, student exchange programs, as well as improving the capability of our specialized quality assurance staff,” Tuan said.

After becoming an Associate Member of AUN-QA, a university is also eligible for participating in programs and projects organized by the network and its partners such as Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), and the European Union Support to Higher Education in the ASEAN Region (SHARE) project.

At present, only three universities in Viet Nam are official members of AUN, which are Viet Nam National University – Ha Noi, Viet Nam National University – Ho Chi Minh City, and Can Tho University.

(Source: Tuoi Tre News)