Phan Thuy Hien

National Institute of Medicinal Materials

“The impacts of ACIAR are very evident in the north west area, the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta region, which are the areas that Vietnam is hoping to develop."

On her connection with Australia, Phan Thuy Hien immediately thinks of a professor from over 20 years ago whom she greatly admires: the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Sydney.

At that time, the professor was working on an ACIAR project in Vietnam. Hien met him by chance through a mutual friend, and it was the professor who encouraged her to pursue a PhD degree. She was one of the first scholarship recipients of the Vietnamese Government's Project 322. The professor acted as her guarantor and doctoral advisor at the University of Sydney, and to this day, he remains a highly influential mentor to her.

While studying plant diseases in Australia, Hien discovered a new species of fungus that damages plants and it was named after her. The professor supported her in publishing her findings in a renowned international journal of fungi and attending a global conference on plant diseases in New Zealand.

Hien completed her doctoral thesis and returned to Vietnam in 2004, just as the professor was undertaking another ACIAR-funded project on plant disease diagnosis and prevention, and agricultural extension in the central provinces of Vietnam. The professor invited his former student to serve as the project coordinator, which Hien saw as fortunate but also a challenging period of time. She went on two field trips per year, each lasting 3-5 weeks, but Hien had a 6-month-old baby at that time, whom she brought along on the work trips in addition to her mother-in-law. She would work during the day and return at noon to care for her child, while her mother-in-law stayed with the baby for the whole day.

Despite the challenges, it was an extremely meaningful period of time for Hien that greatly contributed to her professional development and the subsequent ACIAR projects in which she participated. Following the project, the "Handbook of plant disease diagnosis in Vietnam" was published, with Hien among the four authors. The book was acclaimed by many.

In 2008, Hien once again became the coordinator for another ACIAR-funded project on safe vegetable farming for ethnic minority women in Phu Tho and Lao Cai provinces. This project made an impact by assisting women in the mountainous areas to produce local vegetables at a commercial scale and delivering their produce to consumers.

Another ACIAR project on establishing a sustainable, efficient vegetable production and trading system in the north west of Vietnam followed, focusing on the Mong ethnic community in Lao Cai, in which Hien was also the project coordinator.

"Those three projects connected me and ACIAR for over 15 years. Working with ACIAR has provided me with opportunities to connect with Australian universities and scientists and improve my capacity," Hien said. "During the projects, I also had the chance to study in Australia through the John Dillon Fellowship for young leaders."

Currently, Hien and her colleagues at the National Institute of Medicinal Materials and Australian experts are continuing to develop another project with ACIAR, focusing on medicinal plants in ethnic minority regions. She believes that the project holds great potential as it aligns with the goals of both Vietnam and ACIAR.

"As for ACIAR, I consider them my number one partner. My whole family also shares a close bond with ACIAR,” she says. Hien adds that her husband also received an ACIAR scholarship to pursue his PhD degree in Australia.

As an agricultural expert, Hien chose a word that could not be more suitable to describe the Vietnam - Australia relations: "Fruitful", in addition to "Strong Development" and "Sustainability."