Can Vietnam enter the $1,550 billion biotechnology market?

The global biotechnology market is growing at more than 13% per year and is expected to reach nearly $3,880 billion by 2030.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Phu Hung, Department of Science, Technology and Engineering, Ministry of Science and Technology - Photo: KHAC HIEU

This is the information at the national scientific conference "Biotechnology development strategy for the period 2026 - 2030, vision to 2045" organized by Ho Chi Minh City National University in coordination with the Central Propaganda and Education Commission, Ministry of Science and Technology on November 29.

The 'huge' biotechnology market

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Phu Hung, Department of Science, Technology and Engineering (Ministry of Science and Technology), said that biotechnology is entering a strategic development phase, becoming one of the important driving forces for growth.

Currently, many core technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, cell technology, recombinant DNA, new generation vaccines, etc. have been mastered by domestic research institutes and gradually applied to production.

Notably, by September 2025, 217 science and technology tasks in the field of biotechnology had been approved with a total budget of more than 754 billion VND.

In the application areas, agriculture is the area with the most obvious breakthroughs. More than 180 rice varieties and 53 medicinal plants have been DNA barcoded.

Biotechnology application models bring about an increase in economic efficiency of 15-20%, even some VietGAP and organic models achieve profits of 80-300 million VND/ha per year.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai, Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City National University, delivered the opening speech at the conference.

In medicine, Vietnam has mastered the technology to produce 10 types of vaccines, develop personalized medicine, real-time PCR testing, cell technology and biobanking for diagnosis and treatment.

The global biotechnology market is currently worth about 1,550 billion USD and is expected to increase to nearly 3,880 billion USD by 2030, with a growth rate of more than 13% per year.

However, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Phu Hung also pointed out that investment in biotechnology is still low compared to demand, and research equipment is mainly imported at high prices.

Many new results are still in the laboratory and have not been commercialized. High-quality human resources are still lacking and scattered, while specific mechanisms are not strong enough to create breakthroughs for businesses.

Professor Henry Nguyen

Interdisciplinary biotechnology trends

Professor Henry Nguyen, Director of the American Biocenter, said that technologies such as genomics and gene editing are changing both medicine and agriculture. The current trend is a strong interdisciplinary integration between biology and digital technology.

For example, electronics, robotics, UAVs (drones), sensors and imaging technology are creating smart agriculture platforms to serve “systems biology” models in crop improvement.

He believes that the future of biotechnology lies in the connection between three pillars: genomics (gene banks, multi-omics, gene editing), phenomics (phenotyping with sensors, UAVs), and enviromics (environmental data, climate, food). All powered by artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and nanotechnology.

Associate Professor, Dr. Soo Han Sen, Director of the MSCSI program - Nanyang Technological University (NTU, Singapore), said that new generation biotechnology will have to go through technology business models.

Many NTU scientists are also entrepreneurs, founding start-ups and transferring technology to the biomedical, food or public health industries.

From this model, he said that to promote biotechnology, it is necessary to build a training - research - business ecosystem according to international standards.

Human resources need to be trained in an interdisciplinary direction, combining chemistry, materials, nano, biomedicine and AI. In addition, university-based enterprise laboratories play a decisive role in promoting commercialization.

Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission Huynh Thanh Dat

Linking research to the market

Mr. Huynh Thanh Dat, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission, emphasized that in the period of 2026 - 2030, biotechnology needs to fully form a value chain from research, mastering core technology, product development, market organization to meeting safety, ethical and environmental standards.

He proposed focusing on developing a number of core technologies, thereby creating "Make in Vietnam" biotechnology products in fields with great potential such as medicine, high-tech agriculture, and environmental protection.

In parallel with perfecting the testing mechanism, risk management, creating a safe innovation space as well as focusing on investing in research infrastructure and standard laboratories.

"Soon build a list of priority programs and products for the 2026 - 2030 period, clearly stating key products, host units, accompanying enterprises and a roadmap for standardization and verification," Mr. Dat suggested.

In addition, it is necessary to establish an inter-sectoral coordination mechanism with clear goals, targets and responsible persons. In which, Ho Chi Minh City National University continues to promote its core role in interdisciplinary training and research.

Respect for people and respect for people

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/viet-nam-co-the-gia-nhap-thi-truong-cong-nghe-bi-hoc-1-550-ti-usd-20251129094436776.htm