Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics: Journey to affirm the position of Vietnamese universities on the global education map

In the era of globalization and strong transformation of higher education, rankings are no longer a race for position, but a measure reflecting capacity, prestige and vision for sustainable development. For Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics (UEH), the journey to the world through prestigious international rankings is a steadfast - substantial - strategic process, demonstrating the aspiration to elevate Vietnamese universities on the global knowledge map.

The year 2025 continues to mark the steady progress of the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) on the journey of international integration: Top 136 best universities in Asia (THE 2025), Top 501+ universities in the world (THE 2026), Top 318 in Asia (QS 2026), Top 301+ universities contributing to 17 SDGs (THE Impact 2025) and Top 650 global universities for sustainable development (QS Sustainability 2026). Behind those numbers is the story of a substantive ranking strategy, based on internal strength and the will for comprehensive reform.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics.

Context and foundation for a real ranking strategy

In the context of Vietnam entering a breakthrough period in education, science and innovation, two important resolutions of the Politburo - Resolution 57/NQ-TW (December 22, 2024) on the development of science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation, and Resolution 71/NQ-TW (August 22, 2025) on breakthrough in education and training - have set the requirement to modernize the education system, invest in universities in the direction of quality and efficiency, associated with autonomy, digital transformation and international integration.

In that trend, developing higher education institutions based on access to prestigious schools with a long history and solid academic position is a strategic direction.

UEH – with nearly 50 years of establishment and development – ​​meets these conditions. From a specialized economic university, UEH has gradually restructured itself into a multidisciplinary and sustainable university, taking science, technology and innovation as the driving force, aiming to serve regional and national development. That mission goes along with the goal of developing UEH into a leading university in Asia with the commitment: to prove by real capacity, real results, and real impact on the academic community, learners and society.

Practical approach with 5 strategic pillars

Instead of chasing rankings, UEH chooses an approach: relying on criteria to comprehensively improve the school's activities. UEH's strategy for managing rankings data systematizes the entire process as a university-level strategic program, including 4 steps:

Step 1: Identify four priority rankings: QS Asia, THE Asia, QS Sustainability and THE Impact Rankings – these are rankings that comprehensively reflect academic capacity, governance and social responsibility, in line with the school's Multidisciplinary and Sustainable Development Strategy.

Step 2: Compare the criteria of these four rankings with the national standards (Circular 01/2024 of the Ministry of Education and Training);

Step 3: Build a "Set of criteria synthesizing 5 groups of strategic standards - 26 specific criteria".

Step 4: Evaluate the current status of the entire UEH according to the set of criteria;

Step 5: Set goals for each criterion, directly linked to the university-wide OKRs system (Objectives and Key Results);

Step 6: Apply ranking data management technology, have a responsible person, evaluate the level of goal achievement and propose action strategies for improvement each year.

The ranking data management system ensures accuracy, transparency and traceability, and builds a process for data submission, reporting and feedback analysis to determine goals for the next cycle. This is an advanced data management model, demonstrating the professional, scientific and sustainable way of working of a modern university.

Data Management Dashboard Integrated Ranking of UEH Reporting Forms

The important highlight is UEH's overall development strategy based on 5 pillars (Training - Research - Administration - Operation - Community) - which is also the internal structure that nurtures the ranking indexes:

Training Pillar: UEH focuses on strengthening its academic reputation, aiming to become a prestigious academic brand in the Asian region - a place where the global intellectual community converges and connects. The school promotes the development of a team of lecturers and scientists with international research and teaching capacity, attracting talents from abroad. Training programs are innovated towards internationalization, practice and multidisciplinary; implementing international accreditation and comparison, developing interdisciplinary programs associated with digital transformation, meeting the demand for high-quality human resources in the context of globalization.

Research Pillar: UEH promotes the formation of a co-creative and multilateral collaborative research ecosystem, connecting schools, businesses, management agencies and international organizations. The University builds a “Green Researcher Community”, encourages research and international publications on topics related to SDGs, while maintaining strong research groups and global academic collaboration. UEH continues to develop the international standard JABES Journal, invests in modern research databases, increases high-quality ISI/Scopus/ABDC publications, contributing to enhancing the academic reputation and scientific influence of the university in the international arena.

Operational Pillar: UEH continues to implement the Living Lab model – UEH Green Campus towards the Circular Campus stage, building a green, smart and sustainable university. At the same time, the school develops an organizational culture based on the values ​​of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), aiming for the image of a “Happy University” – where each individual is respected, creative and comprehensively developed in a humane and dynamic learning and working environment.

Governance Pillar: UEH comprehensively modernizes its infrastructure, facilities and academic spaces according to international standards, improving governance capacity based on digital transformation and big data. The school promotes innovation and entrepreneurship throughout the system, while enhancing brand communication capacity and readiness to participate in prestigious university rankings. Financial policy - sustainable development is focused, ensuring long-term resources for the multidisciplinary, modern and internationally integrated university strategy.

Community Pillar: The University promotes a comprehensive internationalization strategy, building a global identity associated with the UEH Global Hub model. UEH establishes sustainable cooperation and co-creation platforms with businesses and professional associations, while expanding the network of academic-community partnerships at home and abroad. In addition, UEH promotes its role as a City University Hub in Ho Chi Minh City, Vinh Long (UEH Mekong) and Khanh Hoa (UEH Nexus Campus Nha Trang), becoming a knowledge center connecting local authorities, communities and businesses in sustainable development.

Thanks to this consistent strategy, UEH has not only improved its ranking position but also become a deeply integrated university, operating according to international standards, but always closely connected to Vietnamese reality.

Lessons from a Vietnamese university integrating globally

Today’s ranking results are not only a reward for internal efforts, but also have a widespread meaning for the Vietnamese higher education system. UEH contributes to increasing Vietnam’s academic reputation on the international education map, while leading the model of autonomous, multidisciplinary and sustainable university development, in line with the national strategy on education, science and innovation development.

At the regional level, UEH’s three academic hubs – Ho Chi Minh City, Vinh Long, Khanh Hoa – are becoming “City University Hubs” connecting local authorities, businesses and communities. UEH makes a practical contribution to the socio-economic development of the Southeast, Mekong Delta and South Central regions, through providing high-quality human resources, transferring knowledge and initiating sustainable initiatives.

With the vision of maintaining its position in the Top 250 of Asia by 2030, and reaching the Top 100 of Asia by 2045, UEH aims to become a multidisciplinary, multi-field university with the leading reputation in the region, taking its strengths in economics, business and management as the foundation to integrate technology, design and social sciences. It is not only an integration strategy, but also a journey to elevate Vietnamese knowledge - from foundation to standard, from reputation to influence.

“The lesson learned from this journey is the “philosophy of university governance”. UEH has proven that when a university puts people at the center, takes knowledge as its mission and sustainable development as its guiding principle, then ranking will no longer be the goal, but the natural result of a correct development philosophy.” - Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Quang Hung, Deputy Director in charge of UEH emphasized.

UEH's journey is the story of a Vietnamese university that dares to change to grow, dares to integrate to serve and is gradually making its mark on the global education map with its own intrinsic values.

9 key strategic projects of UEH for the period 2025 - 2030, vision 2045

• Project "Improving the quality of UEH staff - Top 250 Asia";
• Project "Building an international academic ecosystem at UEH";
• Project "Enhancing capacity for scientific research, international publication, science and technology transfer, and product commercialization";
• Project "Training high-quality human resources, internationalization, practical integration, multi-disciplinary integration, digital transformation, sustainability at UEH";
• Project "UEH City University Hub";
• Project "Developing a startup and innovation ecosystem at UEH, becoming a core of startup and innovation, connecting the Vietnamese and Asian startup communities";
• Project "Modernization of technical infrastructure and facilities, effective management, sustainable finance";
• Happy University Project;
• Project “UEH Digital Transformation 360”.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/dai-hoc-kinh-te-thanh-pho-ho-chi-minh-hanh-trinh-khang-dinh-vi-the-dai-hoc-viet-tren-ban-do-giao-duc-toan-cau-334786.html