INTRODUCTION  

The Mekong Delta, with a natural area of about 4 million hectares and over 17 million people, is the biggest agricultural production area of the whole country and is considered the rice basket of Viet Nam.  Besides the food production, the Mekong Delta is also rich in fruit trees and diverse varieties of sea food for export. This is a rich land with beautiful scenery and fruit trees all year round.

Over the past few years, many policies of the Communist Party and the Government have resulted in big changes to agricultural production and development in the Mekong Delta, bringing about prosperity to the whole region. Entering the new millennium, with the urgent need for national industrialization and modernization, the regional scientists and authorities are required to explore issues related to the rationale, scientific practice, and strategic plans for the region’s development in order to invest, exploit, and bring into full use the region’s rich and diverse human and natural resources.

Can Tho University (CTU), an important state higher education institution in the Mekong Delta, is the cultural, scientific and technical center of the Mekong Delta. Since its foundation in 1966, CTU has been improving and developing itself.  From a university with a few fields of study at the beginning, it has developed into a multidisciplinary university. At the moment, it has 47 undergraduate, 15 Masters, and 5 Doctoral training programs.

CTU’s main missions are training, conducting scientific research, and transferring technology to serve the region’s socio-economic development. In addition to its training responsibilities, CTU has actively taken part in scientific research projects, applying the scientific and technological achievements to solve problems related to science, technology, economics, culture and society in the region. Out of achievements from its scientific research and international cooperation projects, the university has developed a variety of products and technological production processes for the benefit of people’s lives and the promotion of export, helping the University gain prestige on the national and international markets.                

CTU has also received strong support from the authorities of the twelve provinces in the Mekong Delta in areas such as training, scientific and technological cooperation and transfer. The University has extended scientific and technological cooperation with many international organizations, universities and research institutes. Thanks to these cooperative projects, the staff’s administrative capacity and specializations have been upgraded, and facilities, experimental tools and scientific materials have been added.