Branding has lately become one of the major concerns of higher education institutions in the world and in the region.

This two-day conference attracted nearly 200 participants coming from 130 universities and colleges, one fourth of which came from overseas. It was officiated by HE Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thien Nhan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training, Vietnam.

There were more than 30 presentations centering on the three major themes, namely, concepts and implications from branding, quality assurance and accreditation and practices and lessons learned from global perspectives, specifically in ASEAN, North America, Australia, Europe, and Japan.

In his key-note speech, HE. Prof. Nguyen Thien Nhan mentioned the importance of quality assurance and accreditation and the strong engagement of Vietnam’s higher education into a global context. He emphasized international cooperation and partnership as key to success, and urged Vietnamese universities and colleges to strongly develop and enhance collaboration with international institutions of higher learning.

From the conference, major points have been drawn including the establishment of linkages between Vietnamese and foreign institutions; the development of a series of workshops/conferences in quality assurance and accreditation in higher education, especially for 2009 – 2010; the building of criteria/models in quality assurance and appreciation; the discussion among the foreign Schools of Education to map a plan for faculty training in key Vietnamese Schools/Colleges of Education.

The conference has been highly appreciated by both Vietnamese and international participants, and has paved the path for more activities as well as seminars, workshops and conference on topics related to branding in higher education.