Vietnam still keeps cautious with GMC | Look At Vietnam

Vietnam still keeps cautious with GMC

May 6, 2012

LookAtVietnam – Vietnam cannot close its eyes to the genetically modified
organism (GMO), described as a revolution in the biotechnology.

There are three different groups of countries in the world which keep different
viewpoints about GMO. The first group includes the countries that advocate GMO,
including the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, China, India and Australia.
The second group comprises of the countries which do not support the new
technology, mostly European countries. And the third group still keeps the
wait-and-see attitude.
In Vietnam, according to Dr Le Huy Ham, Head of the Agriculture Genetics
Institute, only since 2007, did the state set up the directional plan to
research and apply GMO. In the last few years, the development of genetically
modified crops (GMC) in a trial basis has been allowed for some kinds of plants,
such as cotton, corn, papaya and some forestry trees.
As for corn GMC alone, Thai Monsanto Company with three varieties MON89034,
NK603 and MON89034 x NK60, Vietnamese Syngenta with BT11 and GA21 got the
license from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for growing in a
trial basis.
In July 2007, the Prime Minister signed the decision on approving the overall
plan to strengthen the bio-safety management capability over GMOs and the goods
originating from GMOs. The project focuses on building the legal framework on
the policies on bio-safety management policies and heightening the awareness of
the community about bio-safety.
Keeping cautious not a useless thing
Vietnamese agriculture experts believe that Vietnam needs to follow a reasonable
roadmap in approaching GMC. In the first step, it needs to collect information
and analyze the two-sided impacts of GMC, in order to reach a consensus in the
society abut the use of GMC.
Secondly, Vietnam needs to allocate higher budget to upgrade the material
facilities and improve the labor force for basic research works to create GMC in
Vietnam.
Thirdly, Vietnam should think of growing in a large scale some kinds of GMCs
including cotton, forestry trees, ornamental trees, strictly following the
biosafety rules.
Dr Nguyen Hong Minh, Director of the Center for High Quality Vegetable Variety
Research and Development, has warned that the expenses for GMC seeds are much
more expensive than normal seeds, while the expenses would be increasingly high,
once farmers depend on supply companies. Meanwhile, farmers would not be able to
resume the old ways of cultivation after they apply GMO, because the biological
environment has changed with quite different conditions.
Minh has pointed out that if the farm produce prices are the same for both GMCs
and normal products, farmers would choose GMCs. “In the first 5-10 years,
farmers would not be busy, while they can have higher yield and have to spend
less time on dealing with insects. However, they would be enjoy the good time
for a short period,” Minh said.
“The risk they would face is very high, once farmers depend on multi-national
variety supply companies which have the power to define the prices,” he added.
International experts have warned that GMC variety supply companies have
registered the varieties to confirm their ownership, which means that they would
have the power to control the organisms in the globe with their cross-fertilize.
Especially, the companies may create the varieties with infertility gene, which
means that they can be used to grow one time.
Ham has also confirmed that the current GMCs can be grown for two or three
crops, and after that, they would provide low yield. While Vietnam still cannot
master the GMO technology, it would be really a high risk if it grows GMCs in a
large scale.
Hai Duong

International Woman's Day, Monday March 8th

- The world marks International Women's Day on Monday, an annual celebration that highlights their economic, political and social achievements.

"International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men," the United Nations says.

The day was marked for the first time in the early 1900s. More than 1 million women and men attended rallies in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland in 1911, according to the United Nations. They demanded that women be given the right to vote and to hold public office, and an end to job discrimination.

"It is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of women's rights," the United Nations said.

Women for Women International is sponsoring peace demonstrations on bridges in 70 locations. The event will "honor the resilience of millions of women survivors of war around the world" and push for peace instead of armed conflict, the group said.

On a bridge between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- countries marred by internal violence -- thousands of women will gather in support of peace and development, the group said.

While a celebration of progress, International Women's Day is also a time to acknowledge the struggles women still grapple with around the globe.

In India, angry protests disrupted the Parliament several times Monday in a bid to thwart a landmark bill that would reserve one-third of the seats in federal and state legislatures for women. While the president is a woman -- Pratibha Devisingh Patil is India's first female president -- women make up just 11 percent of the members of the lower house of the Indian Parliament.

On Saturday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed to work for greater female representation in the country's democratic process, citing Women's Day as a time to "reaffirm our government's commitment to all-round social, economic and political empowerment of our women."

Half of India's female population cannot read or write, authorities say.

In Iran, female activists were honored Sunday by Zahra Rahnavard, wife of Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi, in celebration of International Women's Day.

About 30 of Iran's most prominent women's rights activists and their supporters held a private gathering in Tehran. Rahnavard declared that the women's opposition movement was still alive. She said the movement would not forget the sacrifices by women who were jailed, beaten or died in the post-election protests last year. Women, treated as second-class citizens under Iranian law, were noticeably front and center at the massive demonstrations after the disputed election in June.

"This year these women are now much more visible," said Nadya Khalife, a gender equality researcher for Human Rights Watch in Beirut, Lebanon. "But Iranian women are not only battling gender discrimination, they are also battling heightened political tensions."

Gender Equality for Iran, an activist organization, launched a renewed campaign for women's rights to mark International Women's Day, the group said.

The campaign, Call for Solidarity: Freedom and Gender Equality in Iran, is calling for the release of all political prisoners and an end to government-sponsored repression, the group said.

Vietnam ranks 4th in consumer confidence: survey |

Consumer confidence in Vietnam has increased for the first time since March 2007 as sentiment around the globe rebounds, according to survey results announced Thursday.

With the increase, Vietnam is now the fourth most confident country in the world, up five places since March this year, according to asurvey by the Nielsen company, conducted between September 28 and October 16.

“If consumers have shifted gears across the globe from recession to recovery, Vietnam is truly at the head of the pack with an increase of 28 points and ranking fourth most confident country globally,� said Darin Williams, Managing Director at The Nielsen Company Vietnam. The global average has jumped 9 points.

“A nine-point surge in consumer confidence signifies a welcome return to positive territory,� said James Russo, Vice President, Global Consumer Insights at Nielsen. “It really demonstrates that in the last six months, a majority of consumer sentiment acrossthe globe has shifted gears from recession to recovery – the tide has turned.�

Confidence was highest in India, followed by Indonesia and Norway, while the most pessimistic countries were Latvia and Japan, thesurvey said. Consumer confidence rose in 45 out of the 52 countries compared to six months ago.

According to the survey, 69 percent of Vietnamese said their nation is currently in a recession compared to 76 percent in April 2009. More than half of the Vietnamese surveyed believe they will be out of the recession and job prospects will be good to excellent in the next 12 months.

Despite the new sense of optimism around the world, spending is still restrained, the survey said.

Vietnamese consumers, for instance, remain relatively cautious. According to the survey, 46 percent of Vietnamese consumers stated that timing is “not so good� to buy the things they want and need while 51 percent said they will put their money into savings after covering essential living costs.

Source: Thanh Nien