VNU President Nguyễn Kim Sơn attended and co-chaired the meetings.

The AUN Board of Trustees meeting and the AUN Rectors’ meeting (held on July 18 and 19) were among the activities conducted by Vietnam Government to mark the 50^th founding Anniversary of ASEAN.

The meetings attracted the attendance of more than 80 delegates from the AUN and a number of invited guests from the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary (ASEAN - AIPA), the Ministry of Education (Malaysia), the Office of the Higher Education Commission (Thailand), and Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the 33^rd meeting, AUN Board of Trustees announced the end of Assoc.Prof. Nantana Gajaseni’s two terms of office (2009-2017) as AUN CEO and appointed Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti as AUN CEO.

This meeting also announced the changes in personnel of AUN member universities; approved the AUN Charter and the ASEAN-Hungary cooperation agreement in the field of education; and established the ASEAN Higher Education Working Group. The meeting also discussed the AUN cooperation with European partners (TA-SE), AUN Students Week with the topic "Sustainable development: A multidisciplinary approach", and the establishment of a network of sustainable development cities (AUN - SCUD) ...

Speaking at the meeting, VNU President Nguyễn Kim Sơn expressed VNU’s honour to host the event. He said that the rapid development of Industrial Revolution 4.0 in the world was posing urgent requirements for innovation in the operation and cooperation of higher education institutions. As the region's most prestigious and largest network, the AUN assists its member universities not only in adapting to the challenges but also in mastering the fourth industrial revolution, to build a high-quality education community that can keep up with other prestigious educational institutions around the world.

Being one of the first and the only member from Vietnam joining the AUN Board of Trustees, VNU has been actively involved in strategic building and planning AUN quality assurance policies, the sets of AUN quality standards...

VNU President Nguyễn Kim Sơn said that the organization of the 9^th AUN Rectors’ meeting and the 33^rd AUN BOT meeting had confirmed the efforts of VNU in enhancing and promoting cooperation and solidarity among the AUN members as well as in the building of a stronger network.

The 10^th AUN Rectors’ meeting and the 34^th AUN BOT meeting are to be held in Brunei in July, 2018.