President of Bahir Dar University, Dr. Firew Tegegne, has received the 2022 Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation for his role in promoting academic exchanges between Japan and Ethiopia.
Japanese ambassador to Ethiopia Ito Takako handed over the award to Dr. Frew on Monday in a ceremony held in Bahir Dar city.
Dr. Frew was a driving force for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in 2008 for Academic Cooperation between Bahir Dar University and Tottori University, one of the highly acclaimed universities in Japan.
The cooperation has paved a way for more than 25 professors from Bahir Dar University to visit Japan.
“This is largely due to Dr. Firew’s understanding of the significance of academic exchange with Japan, through his research experience in Hiroshima University in 2010 and Tottori University in 2014-2015, and his active encouragement of professors at Bahir Dar University for academic exchange with Japanese universities,” said the embassy of Japan in Addis Ababa.
Dr. Frew is currently involved in various joint research projects with Soka University on lake resource utilization as a project director.
He has also played a critical role in academic exchange activities in the field of land use between Bahir Dar University, Tottori University, Shimane University, and the University of Tokyo.
The Foreign Minister’s Commendations are awarded to individuals and groups with outstanding achievements in international fields, in order to acknowledge their contributions to the promotion of friendship between Japan and other countries and areas.
The Commendations also aim to promote the understanding and support of the Japanese public for the activities of the recipients.
