Cooperates and collaborates with ministries, equivalent agencies, local administrations and organisations, and both national and international education institutions. SU has concluded Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with more than 60 institutions from Asia, Europe and the United States of America. The major cooperation activities focus on five themes:

1. Exchange of scholars, researchers, faculty and staff members;
2. Exchange of students and activities;
3. Exchange of publications and relevant academic information of mutual interest;
4. Organization of joint research programs, lectures and symposia; and
5. Other academic exchanges as agreed by both parties.

As Souphanouvong University is a public university, before signing an MOU with a foreign institution, there are some documents and processes for an approval from the government involved. These include:

>> DOCUMENTS

The following documents are necessary for the process of approval request from the Lao government. Missing one of them, it is impossible to move the process on.

• A letter of intension from the prospective partner institution. The letter has to be signed by the high management of the institution;
• The information about the prospective partner institution;
• A Minutes of Discussion (MOD) or a Minutes of Agreement (MOA) between Souphanouvong University and the prospective partner institution;
• A report of previous activities co-conducted between Souphaouvong University and the prospective partner institution;
• A SWOT analysis;
• An MOU draft.
• A letter of request for an approval.

>> PROCESS

After having a letter of intension from the prospective institution, the staffs working in the International Relations Cooperation and Project Management Division start the following processes:

• Study the information of the prospective partner institution;
• Daft a SWOT analysis;
• Draft the MOU based on the draft from the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The draft is sent to the partner institution to check before proposing it to the Lao government for an approval;
• Draft a letter of request for a Lao government approval signed by the high management of Souphanouvong University;
• Send all the documents above to the Ministry of Education and Sports through the Department of Higher Education and the Department of Foreign Affairs;
• After the processes in the Ministry of Education and Sports, the documents are sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the departments concerned in the Ministry;
• After the proposed MOU has been approved or not approved the documents will be sent back to Souphanouvong University through the Ministry of Education and Sports.

In some cases, the documents are sent to the Office of the Prime Minister to consider. In general, the process takes from 3 months to 6 months. The MOU signing ceremony has to be held and report to the Lao government through the Ministry of Education and Sports within one Month after the approval has been granted.

Regarding to the MOU and MOD, Souphanouvong University and partner institutions have to follow the formats presented by the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs, except the themes of cooperation, which can be modified based on mutual consents.