The Second National Conference and Final Meeting took place between the 27th and the 29th of March. The event was hosted by the National University of Laos (NUOL).

The Second National Conference took place in Lao Plaza Hotel on the 27th and 28th. The people assisting were top-level management staff of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), IRO staff of HEIs, policymakers, and stakeholders (VET, NGO, international organisations, etc.). The aim was to boost the visibility of the newly established LUAI network at the national level, to disseminate information on the project, to promote the IROs created and/or improved, and to highlight the most important results of the project.

Key people spoke at the event, such as the Director General of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Education and Sports, Dr. Silinthone Sacklokham, and the first counselor of the EU delegation to Lao PDR, Mr. Niall Leonard. Also, a representative from the Institute of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the DAAD Ambassador in Laos, Dr. Champathong Phochanthilath, participated. Dr. Laurene Chua-Garcia from De La Salle University was also invited. She exposed the PHL IN-NET, the Philippine Network recently created for Internationalisation in Higher Education.

The Conference served to give visibility to the most remarkable project achievements, these included: (1) an improvement of inter-institutional cooperation and sharing of good practices via the need analysis and Institutional Building, (2) the strengthening of Internationalisation of HE through the promotion of HEIs governance reforms, (3) the enhancement of managerial and administrative staff capacities in dealing with internationalisation issues, (4) the establishment of the First National Network in International Relations in Laos, and (5) increased public awareness and understanding of Internationalisation within HEIs. 

Around ninety people assisted physically at the Conference. However, the scope was wider since the event and especially the moment of signing the LUAI Network agreement was even broadcasted on the Lao-English National Television Channel.

The event also served as a venue for networking and dialogue on internationalisation. During the meeting, an important cooperation agreement between LUAI Network and PHL IN-NET was established.

The Final Project Meeting and Final Reporting took place on the 29th. In this meeting, an overview of the project's achievements was done. The partners also exposed their own experiences with Workshop replication at a national level. It was the final event for the OPEN project, but the start of a long collaboration between the Laotian partners that will last after the project’s lifetime.

Video of the conference on Youtube