HCMC – Work started on Tuesday on the HCMC Biotechnology Center, six years after the HCMC government signed a decision establishing the center to support the development of high-tech agriculture in the city.

The center covers 23 hectares of land in District 12, not far from the Quang Trung Software City, and requires an investment capital of US$100 million for the first stage.

This center, the first of its kind in Vietnam, will be a multi-function complex engaging in research and development, training, technology transfer, and manufacturing of bio-products for use in the areas of agriculture, medicine, pharmaceutics and environment.

Duong Hoa Xo, director of the center, said at the ceremony that the new facility would serve as a science center in response to the central Government’s program for biotechnological development in the period of 2006-2020.

According to him, the center now has three laboratories specializing in molecule biology, technologies of plant cell and microorganism. Besides, the center also has a 2,500-square-meter conservatory for growing orchids and ornamental plants, and a bio-product workshop.

The project will be finished in 2014 with 13 specialized sections. The section of “Research & Test Production” will have 12 laboratories with advanced equipment while the Research Department will be built as a workplace for 200- 300 scientists.