Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu sent a letter of congratulations to the Vietnamese professor on the occasion.
Born in 1940 in An Giang province, Prof. Vo Tong Xuan is an established scientist and researcher on agriculture in Vietnam, particularly in the Mekong Delta, the largest rice granary in the country.
After receiving his doctoral certificate at Kyushu University in Japan in 1975 for his research on rice cultivation in the tropics, he has worked with Japanese researchers in conducting research on rice farming.
He is a pioneer and an active contributor to the promotion of academic exchanges between Japan and Vietnam in the field of agriculture. He was the visiting lecturer at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University in 1997, during which he arranged many field trips for Vietnamese farmers and policy makers.
He has also made significant contributions to strengthening Vietnam – Japan agricultural cooperation through Japan’s official development assistance (ODA) projects.