Japanese State Minister of the MEXT visited AGI where RIKEN is part of an International Joint Research Laboratory
July 20, 2016
On July 19, 2016, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan (MEXT) State Minister Tsutomu Tomioka and a delegation from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) visited the Agricultural Genetics Institute (AGI) of Vietnam where RIKEN is part of a cassava research international joint research laboratory.
The initiative began in 2012 when the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) joined a three-year-long JST program called “e-ASIA Joint Research Program” to research the molecular breeding of cassava using leading-edge technologies for a period of three years. In 2013, RIKEN CSRS and AGI signed a memorandum of agreement on research collaboration and continue to conduct and promote the cassava project. Moreover, in 2016, RIKEN joined the “Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS)” program to promote further international collaborations in Asia.
During this visit, Dr. Motoaki Seki, Team Leader, Dr. Yoshinori Utsumi, Research Scientist of the RIKEN CSRS Plant Genomic Network Research Team, and Dr. Hiroki Tokunaga, who is originally from RIKEN CSRS but is staying long-term at the AGI International Laboratory for Cassava Molecular Breeding (ILCMB), introduced the cassava project and its laboratories.
Cassava cultivation room
From left; AGI Director General Le Huy Ham, MEXT State Minister Tomioka and Dr. Seki
Explanation of cassava from Dr. Seki
MEXT State Minister Tsutomu Tomioka and project members of the ILCMB
