7 November 2018 (Wednesday) – Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) researcher Dr Farah Fazwa Md Ariff received the prestigious 2018 Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers at the United Nations University Tokyo, Japan yesterday.

Farah Fazwa, who heads the FRIM Herbs and Trees Improvement Branch, was chosen for her innovative and beneficial research in the production of high quality planting materials of important herbal species in Malaysia, Labisia pumila (kacip fatimah).

Farah Fazwa showing the award certificate and medal.	Farah Fazwa receiving the certificate from Yoshio (left pix) and the medal from Masa.

FRIM Director General Dato’ Dr Abd Latif Mohmod said he is proud of the achievement which is also also a form of recognition for FRIM.

Farah Fazwa, who has published more than 150 scientific papers in various books, journals and proceedings was awarded as FRIM’s Best Staff Award in 2017. She has won several international, local and institutional awards such as ITEX 2017 Gold Medal, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia Innovation Award 2016 as well as Best FRIM’s Research Award in 2014 and 2016. She has been involved as the leader for 10 major research and development projects.

The award, held since 2007, is presented annually by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery (MAFF) as a recognition of the contributions and excellent achievements of young foreign researchers to technological development for the improvement in the fields of agriculture, forestry and fishery in developing nations.

Farah Fazwa received the award certificate from the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council, MAFF Chairman Yoshio Kobayashi; and medal from Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) President Dr Masa Iwanaga.

Farah Fazwa presenting her research findings at the award ceremony.	Three award recipients (holding certificates) posing for a group picture with the award committee and other VIPs.

There were two other recipients of the award this year: Dr Andry Andriamananjara from University of Antananarivo, Madagascar and Dr Jinyong Zhang from Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

Farah Fazwa is the third FRIM researcher to receive this award. The first was Dr Kevin Ng Kit Siong and second, Dr Tnah Lee Hong, who won this prestigious award in 2009 and 2013 respectively.