The Francophone University Agency (AUF) on Sept. 16 held a ceremony to mark its 50 th anniversary in Hanoi , with the participation of Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan.

Over the past 50 years, the agency had made every effort to develop the Francophone university community, Director of AUE’s Asia-Pacific Office Olivier Garro said.

Currently, French was still an important language of knowledge and science and a language of success, he said.

AUF has participated in the Francophone space to create and propagate knowledge in French with a community of dynamic Francophone universities.

He expressed his thanks to Vietnam for its support and cooperation with the office since its early days in Hanoi .

AUF now includes 800 universities in 94 nations and workes as an agency under the International Francophone Organisation (OIF) in the fields of teaching and study, aiming to support cooperation between French-speaking universities.

Addressing the ceremony, Vice State President Doan said Vietnam always attached importance to cooperation with Francophone countries and OIF.

She expressed her delight at the continuous development of the Francophone Community and its special attraction to nations worldwide, creating a great French-speaking family.

Doan used the occasion to applaud the support channelled by AUF, OIF and Francophone countries to the development of the French language in Vietnam .

She expressed her belief that AUF would make greater contributions to the development of the Francophone community and that relations between Vietnam and AUF would be more effective in the future. /.