Vietnam eyes entry into $3.88-trillion global biotechnology market

The outlook was presented at a national scientific conference on Vietnam’s biotechnology development strategy for the 2026-30 period, with a vision to 2045.

The event was jointly hosted by Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City; the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information, Education, and Mass Mobilization; and the Ministry of Science and Technology, in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday.

Nguyen Phu Hung, head of the Department of Technical Science and Technology under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said biotechnology is entering a strategic phase and has become one of the most important drivers of future economic growth.

He noted that Vietnam has already mastered several core technologies, including CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, cell technology, recombinant DNA, and next-generation vaccine technologies, which are gradually being applied to production.

As of September this year, Vietnam had approved 217 science and technology missions in the biotechnology sector, with total funding exceeding VND754 billion ($29 million).

In agriculture, biotechnology applications have delivered some of the most visible breakthroughs. More than 180 rice varieties and 53 medicinal plant species have now been DNA-barcoded.

Biotechnology-based production models have helped raise economic efficiency by 15-20 percent.

Some VietGAP and organic farming models generate annual profits ranging from VND80 million ($3,040) to VND300 million ($11,500) per hectare.

In healthcare, Vietnam has mastered production technology for 10 types of vaccines and has developed capabilities in personalized medicine, real-time PCR testing, cell technology, and biobanks used in diagnosis and treatment.

However, Hung warned that Vietnam’s investment in biotechnology remains far below actual demand.

Most research equipment must still be imported at high costs, many scientific results remain confined to laboratories without commercialization, high-quality human resources remain limited and scattered, and special incentive mechanisms are not yet strong enough to drive enterprise breakthroughs.

Henry Nguyen, former director of the National Center for Soybean Biotechnology established by the U.S. Congress, said technologies such as genomics and gene editing are reshaping both medicine and agriculture.

He stressed that the current trend is strong interdisciplinary integration between biology and digital technology.

Electronics, robotics, drones, sensors, and imaging technologies are laying the foundation for smart agriculture and ‘systems biology’ models in crop improvement.

He said the future of biotechnology lies in the connection of three core pillars: genomics, including gene banks, multi-omics, and gene editing; phenomics, which measures physical traits using sensors and drones; and enviromics, which integrates environmental, climate, and food data. All of these, he added, will be driven by artificial intelligence, robotics, and nanotechnology.

Soo Han Sen, director of the MSCSI Program at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said next-generation biotechnology must be developed through technology-based business models.

Many Nanyang Technological University scientists are also entrepreneurs who establish start-ups and transfer technology to the biomedical, food, and public health sectors.

From this model, he said, Vietnam needs to build an international-standard ecosystem that integrates training, research, and enterprise development.

Huynh Thanh Dat, deputy head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information, Education, and Mass Mobilization, said the 2026-30 period will be critical for building a complete biotechnology value chain, from research and mastery of core technologies to product development, market organization, and compliance with safety, ethical, and environmental standards.

Dat called for a focus on developing ‘Make in Vietnam’ biotechnology products in high-potential sectors such as pharmaceuticals, high-tech agriculture, and environmental protection.