Vietnam boosts agricultural biotechnology cooperation with the US

At the Workshop ""Strengthen public awareness and enhancing the application of biotechnology in agriculture" on August 5, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment (MARD), emphasizes the importance of science and technology in agricultural development.

According to Mrs. Thuy, the Vietnamese government has always identified agriculture as the economy's national advantage and backbone. In the Party and State guiding documents, farmers are recognized as the subject and center of rural economic development and new rural construction.

“Agricultural development must be based on science, technology and innovation. This process helps to create products with high added value, ensuring income and health for people,” said Mrs. Thuy.

To promote the application of science, including biotechnology, Vietnam is very interested in cooperation and technology transfer with foreign countries. Among them, the US is considered a strategic partner.

In May 2022, on the occasion of the visit to the US by government leaders led by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan worked with leaders of the USDA.

At the meeting, Minister Le Minh Hoan highlighted a number of initiatives that Vietnam has launched, such as the Initiative "Agricultural Innovation to Respond to Climate Change" (AIM4C), the Action Alliance "Promoting" Sustainable Productivity Growth for Food Security and Resource Conservation" (SPG), "Center for Innovation in Food Technology", "100 Million Farmers" Initiative: Transition to a Food System zero emissions and environmentally friendly"…

Currently, the US Government in general and the US Department of Agriculture in particular share and support Vietnam's goals in developing the agricultural sector towards sustainability and increasing adaptation in the coming time. to help farmers and agricultural producers face the impacts of climate change.

The Minister also suggested the US side continue to support Vietnam financially and technically through specific actions so that Vietnam can strengthen its capacity, successfully implement global initiatives, and transform green, environmentally friendly, and low-emission industries.

The US is a significant partner of Vietnam in trade relations, but it has not enjoyed many favorable policies from free trade agreements like other countries. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact, causing purchasing power to decrease and inflation related to food items to increase sharply.

On these grounds, the Department of Science, Technology, and Environment expressed its desire to cooperate with the economies of APEC, the technology group, in researching, applying, and transferring biotechnology into agriculture.

Director General Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy hopes that sharing information and experiences between the two countries will help Vietnam have policies to encourage the application of new scientific and technological achievements.

Some options proposed by Mrs. Thuy are to create new varieties of plants and animals with disease-resistant and disease-resistant properties or to improve yield and nutritional value. These are products of a great deal in an economy with a high proportion of agricultural production like Vietnam.

"In recent years, works related to new technology - gene editing technology have been implemented. This technology is applied in selecting and creating new plant varieties on some objects such as corn, soybean, potato, rice, wheat, tomato, etc. If compared with traditional breeding technology, correction technology gene editing is evaluated to bring more efficiency, higher accuracy, and lower risk", said Mrs. Thuy.

Many biotechnological products have been commercialized in many countries. Mrs. Thuy said that, besides sharing information about scientific achievements, the community needs to raise awareness and the legal framework on biosafety.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh recently approved the project "Developing the agricultural bio-industry until 2030". It is a significant policy of Vietnam in the coming period to promote research, development, and application of biotechnology in agriculture.

The event on August 5 is part of a series of high-level policy dialogues on agricultural biotechnology for APEC 2022.

“Currently, the commercialization of many biotechnological products has been applied in economies worldwide, including Vietnam. However, raising public awareness through information sharing about scientific achievements and the legal framework on biosafety is essential for products created from new technologies such as gene editing technology. Studying is very necessary”, said Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy.