From January 15 to 26, 2018, KIT had the pleasure of receiving Dr. Pham Minh Duc, Deputy Director, Project Management Unit of Can Tho University (Vietnam) in order to carry out a short-term training on international cooperation activities, as part of Can Tho University’s Improvement Project.
Based on the agreement between the governments of Japan and Vietnam, coordinated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), this project aims to strengthen Can Tho University, through the support of multiple universities in Japan, by providing support for human resource development.
Currently, one of the challenging issues in Vietnam, is not only the development of researchers but also the establishment of an administrative system supporting that development. To this end, KIT was requested to conduct training to staff that will play a central role in the future management of Can Tho University in order to improve the institution’s administration and governance.

During the training period, Dr. Pham joined the members of the International Affairs office, participated in meetings and conferences, and met with numerous administrative staff and faculty.
During the first half of his training, Dr. Pham received explanation about KIT’s vision, each department’s work as well as MEXT’s Top Global University Project. During the second half, using actual case studies, he learned more in detail about how to manage Overseas Education Exchange Program for faculty members and multinational projects.
Furthermore, during the results meeting of the final day, Dr. Pham presented a proposal regarding the “KIT-Vietnam Seminar 2018”, conducted by KIT and a number of Vietnamese universities, and “Summer Program 2018”, during which KIT’s students are sent to Can Tho University. Dr. Pham’s proposal on the Summer Program, which was highly evaluated by the faculty present, had “Food” as its theme, strategically incorporating the potential of Mekong river.
After the presentation, Dr. Pham commented with a smile “Everyone, including the Director, working together in the same room, is something you don’t see in Vietnam. I would like to introduce this Japanese style of working in an open space while exchanging opinions, in Vietnam as well”.

KIT and Can Tho University have had exchange in the field of education and research for nearly 20 years and the results have been applied in various countries of Southeast Asia and especially in Vietnam. This training is expected to further enhance cooperation at an administration level, allowing an even smoother implementation of international collaboration projects.

• Final report meeting
• Completion ceremony