Japanese

On October 4, 2024, Hiroshima University (HU), in collaboration with Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry (TUAF) in Vietnam, hosted an event to celebrate the establishment of the Hiroshima University Vietnam Office. The event, an important milestone for further expansion of education and research activities in Vietnam, was attended by HU President Mitsuo Ochi, Executive Vice President (Global Initiatives) Shinji Kaneko, Vice President (International Exchange/Japanese Language Education) Kazuhiko Koike, Dean Masayuki Shimada of the School of Applied Biological Science, Professor Tran Dang Xuan, Head of the Global Campus Institute Vietnam Office, and many other experts from government, business, and academia in Vietnam and Japan.

The opening ceremony of the Vietnam Office at TUAF was attended by approximately 30 people, including Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Hung, President of Thai Nguyen University, and other officials from the Thai Nguyen Provincial Government and local universities, as well as four first-term students who enrolled in October 2024, who shared the joy of establishing the office. As participants looked on, the Hiroshima University Vietnam Office and its signboard were unveiled, raising expectations that the office will serve as a center for academic exchange and industry-academia-government collaboration between Japan and Vietnam in the future.

In his opening remarks as the representative of the organizers, HU President Ochi emphasized that exchanges between HU and Vietnam have deepened significantly over the past several years, and in particular, he noted that it was a great step forward to be able to directly explain the advanced initiatives being promoted by HU in Vietnam through a meeting with H.E. Mr. Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, who was visiting Japan for the G7 Hiroshima Summit in May 2023. President Ochi also stated that the joint doctoral program with TUAF will contribute to the development of sustainable agriculture as part of “Food Security through Livestock Industry Reforms to Improve Nutrition in the South,” which is one of the five prioritized issues of the “President 5 Initiatives for Peace Sciences: Creating Peace to Realize Safety and Security” set by HU in 2023, and that HU will continue to accept many students to the program in the future and will make efforts to develop future leaders for Vietnam.

TUAF Rector Nguyen Hung Quang praised the collaboration with HU for its significant contribution to strengthening higher education and research activities in Vietnam, saying, “It is a great honor to collaborate with HU to promote doctoral programs in the field of agriculture and food science.” He also expressed his hope that the collaboration between the two universities will provide more opportunities for students in Vietnam to receive a high standard of education and produce new research results.

Then, on behalf of the guests of honor, H.E. Mr. Naoki Ito, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, expressed his congratulations and respect for the innovative efforts of HU. Quoting the phrase “Talented and wise people make the vitality of the nation” inscribed on the steles of Van Mieu in Vietnam, Ambassador Ito emphasized the importance of human resource development for the development of a nation and gave strong encouragement for our future activities. Noting that cooperation in higher education between the two countries is being further strengthened in accordance with the Japan-Vietnam Joint Statement of 2022, he noted that cooperation between HU and TUAF is of great significance in helping to improve sustainable agriculture and food security.

Ms. Vu Chi Mai, Consul General of Vietnam in Fukuoka, who supported the event at the State Guest House, praised HU's educational and research initiatives in Vietnam, which have contributed to the friendly relations and economic development of the two countries, and said, “I look forward to further cultural and academic exchanges between Vietnam and Japan, centered on this office, in the future.”

In his closing remarks, HU Executive Vice President (Global Initiatives) and Director of the Global Campus Institute Shinji Kaneko emphasized that the establishment of the Vietnam Office will play an important role in promoting HU's “overseas co-creation” activities, and expressed his intention to use the Vietnam Office as a base to advance efforts to integrate different fields in areas such as smart cities, agriculture, semiconductors, and carbon neutrality, and to provide innovative solutions to local issues. He also called on the participants to make active use of the Vietnam Office and expressed his vision to further deepen our cooperative relationship with Vietnam through industry-academia-government collaboration.

Currently, more than 1,800 international students from 85 countries and regions around the world are studying at HU, of which 66 are from Vietnam, the third largest number. In addition, nearly 400 Vietnamese alumni have graduated from HU to date, and alumni associations have been established in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. We will continue to contribute to the development of both countries by strengthening our partnerships with Vietnamese government agencies, universities, and the private sector, and by welcoming excellent Vietnamese students to HU.