Professor Shinya Echigo and Visiting Professor Shigeo Fujii (Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University) of GSGES, Kyoto University visited nine universities and four institutions in four cities in Vietnam from March 2 to 10, 2023. (Part 3 : Hanoi)

This is Part 3 of the Vietnam visit report of Professor Shigeo Fujii and Professor Shinya Echigo.　

On Friday, March 10, the final day of the program, the team visited the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, the Vietnam-Japan University, and the Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, guided by Dr. Dinh Quang Hung, a lecturer of INEST, HUST (GSGES PhD completed in January 2016).

At the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, the team met with Second Secretary Noriko Okamoto to discuss the Embassy’s recommendation of the MEXT scholarship and the status of the Japan‐Vietnam Presidents’ Conference. The first presidential Conference was held at HUST (September 2009), the second at Kyoto University (March 2013), and the third at the University of Danang (September 2015). The fourth conference was scheduled to be held at Nagoya University in February 2020, but was cancelled due to COVID-19.

In the afternoon, the team visited the Vietnam-Japan University (VJU). VJU is a graduate school, and was established as a JICA project. Prof. Fujii was involved in its preparation, and after its establishment, Prof. Masaki Takaoka of the Graduate School of Engineering is offering classes as a lecturer, and Kyoto University is also contributing by accepting its graduates into the doctoral course. At VJU, the team first paid a courtesy call on Rector Furuta Motoo (Photo 26), and then had a discussion with four members of the Master’s Program in Environmental Engineering, including Director Nguyen Thi An Hang, about collaboration in education and research (Photo 27). Former VJU dispatched faculty member, Professor Emeritus Jun Nakajima of Ritsumeikan University, also participated in this discussion remotely from Japan.

[Photo 26] Meeting with Prof. M Furuta, VJU rector(2 nd from left) (March 10)

[Photo 27] Group photo at Vietnam-Japan University (March 10)
From left to right: Ai Ichimiya, Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung, Tran Thi Viet Ha, Chisato Saito, Eiji Nawata. Shigeo Fujii, Jun Nakajima (monitor), NguyenThi An Hang, Shinya Echigo, Dang Minh Hieu, Dinh Quang Hung.

After that, the team went to the Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, which was the last stop of our visit. Guided by Professor Emeritus Nguyen Thi Kim Thai, the team met with Dr. Nguyen Tien Dung, Director of the International Cooperation Department, and others (Photo 28). Next, the team visited the University’s Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, had a meeting with Prof. Nguyen Viet Anh, Director of the Institute, and toured its laboratories (Photo 29).

[Photo 28] Meeting at Hanoi University of Civil Engineering (March 10)
From left to right: Chisato Saito, Eiji Nawata, Shinya Echigo, Nguyen Tien Dung, Nguyen Thi Kim Thai, Dinh Quang Hung.

[Photo 29] Group photo with Director Nguyen Viet-Anh (March 10)
From left to right in back row: Nguyen Viet-Anh, Shigeo Fujii, Shinya Echigo, Eiji Nawata, Chisato Saito, Ai Ichimiya.

As mentioned above, the trip lasted about a week, but it was extremely meaningful and full of contents, with visits to nine universities, one research institute, and three overseas Japan governmental offices in four cities (Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Danang, and Hanoi), and had many meetings with totally more than 100 key people from the institutions which GSGES has been involved with. These are the results of GSGES’s fruitful activities in Vietnam since its establishment, and we expect that GSGES’s activities in Vietnam will continue to be active in the future.

Table 1: Schedule of Prof. Shinya Echigo and Visiting Prof. Shigeo Fujii’s visit to Vietnam

Visit Report  Part 1

Visit Report  Part 2