Binasia – National Workshop 27-28 January 2005; Hanoi Vietnam

1. Institute of Agricultural Ministry of ScienceGenetics and Biotechnology and TechnologyTel: 84 47551102 Tel: 84 49439663Fax: 84 48 364295 Fax: 8449439733Email:Laf312@agi.ac.vn Binasia – National Workshop 27-28 January 2005; Hanoi Vietnam Some information about agricultural Biotechnology in private sector in Vietnam Assoc.Prof. Le Thi Anh Hong

2. I. introduction • Vietnam is situated in the Indochina peninsula with a total land surface area of 330,000 square kilometers and coast line of proximately 3,200 kilometers. The country is divided into three plains. The northern, central and southern plains. • With around 70%of the labor force working in agriculture and forestry, Vietnam remains an agrarian society. although the share of agriculture in GDP is diminishing. In 1997, agriculture accounted for only 26% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) compared to 42% in 1989 which means that the share of agriculture in GDP is now lower than both industry (32%) and service (43%).

3. I. introduction • Vietnam has limited but very fertile agricultural land. On average, the cultivated areas amounts to only 0,1 ha per capita. Which is among lowest in the world. Rice. Which occupies 80% of the cultivated areas, is by far the most important crop for both subsistence and export, although the export earnings from coffee are of a similar magnitude. Over the last decade, however, agricultural production has diversified and today industrial crops account for around 2000 of the production

4. I. introduction • Vietnamese government recognized the importance of biotechnology for the country. Since 1994, biotechnology has been identified as priority is for funding. it has been ranged the second in importance after information technology. Despite the limit of total funding capacity for science, hut funding for biotechnology is increasing from year to year. However, development of agricultural biotechnology is still far from expectation. Among the number of existing reasons, the poor participation of private sector in research development of agricultural biotechnology could be important one. This has historical origin. Only in recent year, Vietnam has the “Mo cua” and entered market economy system and since then, private sector start play more and more important role in economy. This situation happens in the area of research and development as well as in the area of agricultural biotechnology.

5. I. introduction • Private sector starts to have share in this area since early 90, and shared ratio become slowly but constantly higher in recent years. • The ultimate goal of agricultural biotechnology in Vietnam is to create scientific basis for development of agriculture in the country. Which could satisfy the demand in food and row material for industry and export. • Priorities orientations of biotechnology’ in agriculture development to the year 2010 of Vietnamese Government are (cite from MOST — 1998)

6. I. introduction • 1. Selection and breeding high quality varieties for the development of forestry, medicine herbs and crop plants (including cell and gene technologies.) • 2. Producing bio-fertilizer. • 3. Producing biopesticides used in plant protection and product conservation. • 4. Producing vaccine for animals and striving to have new generation one. • 5. Producing KIT for diagnosis of plant and husbandry’ animal diseases. • 6.Human resource training for biotechnology.

7. I. introduction • in Main scopes of agricultural biotechnology activities have been approved to aim at: • Mass propagation of healthy’ material for plant and animal production. • Creating of new varieties of plant and animal having higher yield or better quality, better resistance to insect and diseases • Promoting the use of biological methods in plant and animal protection to minimize the amount of polluted agrochemical • Developing biofertilizers.

8. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL II.1. Plant propagation • This is the most intensive area of agricultural biotechnology with which agricultural biotechnology has been developed in Vietnam. A net of micro - propagation laboratories has been developed by both government and private companies. It has been calculated that every year these factories provide to production 20-30 millions healthy seedlings. Among them forestry plants shared 17 millions seedlings. The rest part come to flower, ornamental, potato, cassava, medicinal, fruit plants… and other plants.

9. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL II.1. Plant propagation • In the area of micro - propagation private sector play’s important role. Exist here two types of factories. Private and government funded factories. In private factories all investments for establishing of the factories, running expenses includes technology development are fully’ carried out by companies or private persons. Private factories react very quickly to specific demand in planting material of certain plants and provide to farmer millions of seedlings in the locations every year. This type of factories are usually mall, poorly funded. but they are very operative. Most of them are non-registered until recent years. Recent tendency revealed that a number of private biotechnology companies has been registered. They are

10. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL II.1. Plant propagation • functioning efficiently. answering quickly on demand of production in the area of seedling production. • In government funded factories, government pays for the establishment of the factories and training of staffs, technology transfer. Running expenses are taken by the companies. These factories are better equipped, production scale are larger. The purposes of these factories are to meet demand of provinces or government programs in larger quantity of healthy seedlings.

12. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL II.1. Plant propagation • It is useful to mentioned about role of private sector in providing of seedlings of fruit plants like citrus, litc/hi, Logan by grafting and Forestry. This part of work is carried out exclusively’ by private sector.

13. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL II.2. Bio - products: • Bio - products are an area of intensive activity ol’ private sector. It includes two types of production: bio-fertilizers and products for plant protection- bio -pesticides and bio - insecticides. • a. Bio - fertilizer: until 2001 registered 34 types of bio - fertilizers. They are produced in all ecological regions of the country with different scales. The producers are as followine: • 1. Sugar companies: this a type of state company. There are 35 sugar companies. All of them have bio - fertilizer processing factory with following production capacity.

14. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL

15. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL II.2. Bio - products: • These sugar companies are funded by the government, but running expenses are covered by them- self. For production. they received technology transfer from universities or research institutions. At the present time they’ produce 70.000 ton of bio - fertilizer equal 30% of their production capacity. It is going tendency’ to privatize these sugar companies. Part of them became shared holder companies. • 2. Private bio - fertilizer Factories: These numbers of private bio - fertilizer producing factories that are listed below:

16. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL

17. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL

18. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL II.2. Bio - products: • These companies in the most cases are to utilize the waste of production. return it to useful products to meet local demands in fertilizer. • Parts of Bio - fertilizer are produced by research institution and universities in join venture with production units in provinces. • Products for plant protection:

19. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL II.3. Biotechnology for crop improvement: • This area of activities is covered entirely by governments. State companies. private sectors do not yet take part in these activities. Meanwhile this is the most important and larger area in agricultural biotechnology, which requires enormous efforts from both government and private sectors.

20. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL II.4. Biotechnology in Plant Diseases Control: • All of activities on quarantine procedure are organized by Government. But in recent years. some private companies and area of plant disease diagnosis are emerged for eliminating important diseases before multiplication of some kinds of flower, potato, citrus, bananas and forestry trees.

21. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL II.5. Biotechnology for cattle breeding: • Requirement of cattle breeding in funding is higher than plant breeding. for propagation technology of animal breeds, all of technologies in this area are very expensive. So that it is very difficult for every private companies to take part in this area (for example vegetative propagation of animal breeds). However, many private companies try to apply advance technologies to create the new varieties • of animal breeds in Vietnam condition to meet demands of domestic market.

22. II. PRESENT STATUS OF PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL II.5. Biotechnology for cattle breeding: • The activities on Animal disease diagnosis on shrimp- Fish, Beef, Pig also emerge in the private sector. Beside, the farmers also applied Biotechnology in taking care animal such as chicken, shrimp, fish ... in collaboration with some private companies from Thailand in Vietnamese condition from sanitary animal house in each household to nutrition region.

23. III. PERSPECTIVE OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY III.1.Importance of private sector in agricultural biotechnology in Vietnam • Vietnam is country with divers agro-ecological regions. each region has specific needs in planting material, specific plants varieties, specific animal breeds. All these need should not be covered by government programs. Private sector, especially small and medium size companies are flexible and quickly reacting could fulfil these needs. Private sector could mobilize all human and material resources on all levels to meet specific demands in the locations.

24. III. PERSPECTIVE OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY III.1.Importance of private sector in agricultural biotechnology in Vietnam • On the other side, funding for biotechnology, especially in the area of improvement of crops and animal breeds are very expensive, even for developed, rich countries. In those countries private sector covers of total expenses for R&D in biotechnology. Vietnam is poor country, involvement of private sector for development of biotechnology is of extreme importance

25. III. PERSPECTIVE OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY III.2. Privatization tendency in agricultural biotechnology We can note following tendency in the area of agricultural biotechnology • A number of newly funded private companies working in the area of Agricultural biotechnology increased remarkably’ in recent years. • Number of State owned enterprises become shared holder is increased. These enterprises consequently will he act as private company

26. III. PERSPECTIVE OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY III.2. Privatization tendency in agricultural biotechnology We can note following tendency in the area of agricultural biotechnology • Government funded laboratories (factories) presently are working on self funded base. To increase efficiency of these factories it is beneficial to return them in to shared holder enterprises. • The private sector in the most important area — biotechnology for improvement of crop varieties and animal breeds still do not exist. There must be created favorable conditions for these companies to come.

27. IV. CONCLUSION • Ultimately, biotechnology is more than just a new and useful agricultural tool. It could also be a hugely important instrument of economic development in many poorer regions of Vietnam. The participation of the private sector is essential to the further development of the seed and biotechnology industries in Vietnam, we would like help us to prepare appropriate policies be adopted to encourage the private sector, both domestic and international, to engage in private seed and other biotechnology enterprises in Vietnam

28. IV. CONCLUSION • This, in turn, would be an important step in the journey toward genuine food security. But as a report published contends: ills critical that the potential benefits of biotechnology (especially gene technology) become available to developing countries, it is also critical that biotechnology (especially” gene technology) become available to private sector.

29. IV. CONCLUSION • Because the participation of the private sector is essential to the seed and biotechnology industries in Vietnam, Can you BINASIA support for prepare an appropriate policies be adopted to encourage the private sector, both domestic and international, to engage in private seed and other biotechnology enterprises in Vietnam.

30. IV. CONCLUSION • Because policy makers, scientists, farmers, and the public have limited access to information as a basis for informed decision making, and because this limitation is exacerbated by the fact that most information related to biotechnology is in English, the Panel recommends support for the establishment and operation of a biotechnology outreach and communications program that would disseminate information in the local language and help train agricultural biotechnology stakeholders in biotechnology communications.

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