Finding solutions to develop agarwood production in Vietnam
According to experts, the quality of Vietnamese agarwood is the best in the world. However, the previous ways of extraction have made natural agarwood depleted and extinct. Meanwhile, chemically flavored agarwood is of poor quality, unsafe and risks the branding of Vietnamese agarwood.
The promotion of agarwood production though gaining a lot of enthusiasm and experience, has not yet to have appropriate mechanisms and policies to make that process become real.
To tackle the issue, on July 12, 2022 at Hanoi Institute for Research and Development of Medicines and Pharmacy; The Institute of Policy, Law and Management and the Vietnam Integration Journal jointly organized a scientific workshop on "Research and development of Vietnamese agarwood - Current situation and solutions".
This is the first scientific event on agarwood held in Vietnam, with the participation of scientists, experts, prestigious scholars, businesses operating in the field of agarwood. A large number of media agencies and journalists are also in attendance.
Overall view of the seminar
Agarwood is one of the forest products with international commercial values, belonging to the group of trees containing essential oils, which can be used as herbal medicines, flavorings and precious foods. In particular, Vietnam is a country with great potential and advantages to be able to produce high quality agarwood with large output. However, the potential has not been fully brought into full play and there has not been a brand of agarwood compatible with the available advantages.
Assoc.Prof.Dr.Physician Nguyen Tuan Binh - Director of the Vietnam Institute for Research and Development of Medicine and Pharmacy, Former Deputy Director of the Traditional Medicine Hospital of the Ministry of Public Security delivered opening remarks at the workshop.
The reports of Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Sam - Vietnam Forestry University; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Physician Nguyen Tuan Binh - Director of the Vietnam Institute for Research and Development of Medicine and Pharmacy, former Deputy Director of the Traditional Medicine Hospital of the Ministry of Public Security; Mr. Pham Thanh Tung - Deputy Director of the Institute of Agricultural Tourism Economics... focused on affirming precious values of Vietnamese agarwood, and shared the current situation and gave specific solutions to the development of the agarwood industry.
Some discussions attracted the attention of the participants such as Situation and proposed solutions to conservation and development of natural Aquilaria crassna species in Vietnam implemented by the Institute of Forest Planning and Investigation; Application of Agarwood in research and development needs of Vietnamese Medicine and Pharmacy by the Vietnam Institute of Research and Development of Medicine and Pharmacy; The effectiveness of Agarwood in sound economic developmentin the pure agricultural region of the Institute of Agricultural Tourism Economics.
Journalist Doan Manh Phuong, Permanent Deputy Director of the Institute of Policy, Law and Management delivered a speech at the workshop
From the perspective of policy, law and management, the presentation of the Institute of Policy, Law and Management clarified current limitations and gaps related to mechanisms and policies on development of the agarwood industry. At the same time, it provided many solutions to and recommendations on policies and management to develop Vietnam's agarwood industry, such as: the State should have a loan policy with preferential interest rates and loan terms to encourage production because the model of growing Aquilaria crassna to transplant agarwood takes a long time (over 10 years) and needs a large source of capital. In addition, it’s necessary to have the State’s protection for enterprises producing and exporting agarwood, to adopt policies which encourage research in technology of creating high-quality agarwood products and to be able to widely transfer the technology of agarwood making, to create a mechanism on provision of full information on the agarwood market, and to ensure specific regulations on the quality of seedlings, professional support for people in production.
Mr. Le Van Giang - Director of The Vietnam Agarwood Research and Development Center – Viet Agarwood under The Vietnam Institute for Research and Development of Medicines and Pharmacy, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of TTT Biological Agarwood Joint Stock Company is speaking at the workshop
At the workshop, Mr. Le Van Giang - Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of TTT Biological Agarwood Joint Stock Company, and Director of the Vietnam Agarwood Research and Development Center (under the Vietnam Institute of Medicines and Pharmacy) presented "Green solutions to the Vietnam's agarwood industry" - TTT Agarwood Transplantation Technology - Perforation and bio-stimulation implemented on hundreds of hectares of Aquilaria crassna projects owned by the company.
According to Mr. Giang, this is a safe transplanting method, which has positive effects on the populations of Aquilaria crassna because it does not kill the trees, and also brings about high economic efficiency by actively creating agarwood, while contributing to environmental protection, conservation and maintenance of this precious species. The current bio-agarwood generation technology of TTT Company is highly appreciated by domestic and foreign experts, considered as an effective solution to the sustainable development of Vietnamese agarwood.
Mr. Rishi Firoz - Business Development Manager of Leading Performance Life University (LPU - Singapore) is speaking at the workshop
The workshop received a plenty of useful comments from the delegates with multi-dimensional and objective perspectives on the current situation as well as recommendations on the development of the Vietnam's agarwood industry in accordance with its potential, step by step reaching out to the world. It is noteworthy that there was a speech made by Mr. Rishi Firoz - Business Development Manager of Leading Performance Life University (LPU - Singapore), who is Muslim and has many years of experience in consumption and trading agarwood, shared the potential of the global agarwood market when the supply is increasingly depleted and expensive, and expressed his desire to cooperate with those that can provide sources of clean agarwood products with large quantity.
According to the evaluation of Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Sam - Vietnam Forestry University who chaired the workshop, the event gave an overview of the Vietnamese agarwood industry, served as a platform to exchange ideas of experts in relevant departments to evaluate, in theory and in practice, economic values, the potential of scientific application of agarwood as well as the urgency in the conservation and development of Aquilaria crassna species through appropriate regulations and policies, active and spill-over communications. The workshop has come to agreement to build a legal framework and a theoretical basis for quality assessment as well as development of our country's agarwood industry.
