~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

Year :      [2003]      [2002]      [2001]      [2000]      [1999]      [1998]      [1997]

Vietnam edges into biotech sector

CAIRNS - Vietnam plans to open six national biotech laboratories between now and 2006 to extend the range of the country's research in this field, the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported Thursday. The government's investment is expected to produce opportunities for hardware, software and services vendors in the bio-IT field as Vietnam moves to a more systematic technology-based approach to biotech.

As a mainly agricultural nation, Vietnam has concentrated its biotech efforts on plant breeding, fertilizers and bio-pesticides, where government investment of 12 billion dong (US$820,000) since 1998 in plant cell technology has generated considerable economic benefits, VNA said. The country is now investing around 8 billion dong annually to set up and maintain facilities to store genetic material from a variety of plants, animals and micro-organisms, which will provide 500 species for study and for use in biotech production, VNA said.

Vietnam has already used advanced gene technologies to create novel vaccines and insect-resistant plants, and Vietnamese scientists are in the early stages of studying the cloning of animals, according to VNA. Biotech has rapidly taken hold across Asia-Pacific, with Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and India the most prominent players in the region. Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand have also indicated they plan to build up their biotech industries through government initiatives.

All the countries hoping to profit from biotech are investing heavily in IT hardware, software and services to support their life science ecosystems, according to research company IDC. According to IDC figures, the Asia Pacific bio-IT market will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 55 percent to reach $3.39 billion by 2006.

By David Legard - IDG News Service - July 24, 2003.