Rector members of Francophone University Agency in the Asia-Pacific region (AUF) need to strengthen their interaction, cooperation and fully utilise their resources (for common development), said Bernard Cerquiglini, general director of AUF, at the organisation's biennial conference held in Ha Noi yesterday.

Bernard Cerquiglini was addressing the CONFRASIE (Regional Conference of Rectors of the AUF), which sought to chart the organisation's operations over the next four years.

The conference, involving 84 rectors, also sought agreement on measures to modernize the AUF by setting a new code of practice for its operation and electing a new executive board for the next four years.

Opening the conference, Vietnamese deputy minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga said Viet Nam's participation in the AUF would help the country facilitate exchanges with and learning opportunities from other AUF members to boost its tertiary development.

Ga stressed that renovating education, especially tertiary education, represents a challenge to national development and this challenge is mounting as the ASEAN Economic Community will come into being at the end of this year. How to improve labour quality has become the burning question for ASEAN countries and Viet Nam in particular.

Ga said he was convinced that the AUF would see development growth in the coming time.

Established in 1961 with 41 original members, over the past 50 years or so, the AUF has expanded to include more than 800 Francophone education and research units worldwide.

At the event, the AUF admitted three new members - the Viet Nam Internal Affairs University, the Mongolia National University and the Shanghai Transport University. 

VNS