GIST provided a 3-day training on "STI in the agricultural development in Japan" to the 10-member delegation from the Office of Mountainous and Rural Program, Ministry of Science and Technology (MOSt), Vietnam from November 27-29, 2017.

This training was designed based on the "Training for capacity building on project implementation and management within the Mountainous and Rural program, Phase 2017-2020" that was developed by GIST and Vietnamese MOST's MTI Technology.

The first two days were the lectures by Professors. Patarapong, Arimoto, Kabuta, and Sumikura, on Japanese STI policies, the role of local governments in developing villages in Japan, and laws on technologoy transffer. Mr. Saigo of the Ministry of Agirulcuture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) talked about S&T roles in Japanese Agriculture policies. Messrs Tsukada and Maekawa of Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. introducced examples in Japan of agricultural production and management, using adanced technologies.

The last and the third day was a tour to Chiba Prefecture. They visited the facilities run by the Plant Factory Research Institute at Chiba University and Chiba Prefectural Government's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department. At the plant factory, the delegation looked at the cultivation by artificial light and ate cultivated vegetables. At the Chiba Prefectural Government, the officials introduced the delegation the local government's policies on agriculture and fisheries as well as the central government policies, and various examples of the unique actions taken by Chiba Prefecture. They were followed by discussions between the delegation members and the Chiba Prefecture Government officials.

The representative of the delegation appreciated GIST for providing the training and said that they would reflect what they learned during the training on their country's policies. Dr. Sunami, GRIPS Vice President, provided a certificate of completion of the training to the delegation members.