The Government plans to spend VND 1tril (US$66mil) to develop agricultural biotechnology in a 10-year plan.

From 2006 on, the Ministries of Finance and Planning and Investment will allocate VND 100bil every year to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to carry out the plan, under Decision No 11. The money will come from the state budget.

The investments will support basic research, applied research and technology development. The state budget will also fund the purchasing of equipment the training of human resources.

The aim of the programme is to create more varieties of plants and microorganisms, as well as agricultural products with higher quality and economic efficiency, improving competitiveness.

>From 2006 to 2010, Vietnam expects to generate or receive and master several modern biotechnologies. In the next phase, 2011-15, Vietnam will focus on gene technology.

By 2020, Vietnam hopes to rank among the leading ASEAN countries in several biotech fields. The total area created by the new technologies will amount to 70% of the total cultivated land.

Agricultural biotechnology is expected to become 50% of scientific use of agriculture by 2020.