Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha (R) shakes hands with Chairman and General Director of AstraZeneca Vietnam Nitin Kapoor. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – It is necessary to strengthen cooperationin vaccines and biopharmaceuticals to proactively prevent and controldiseases, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha said while receiving Chairman and General Directorof AstraZeneca Vietnam Nitin Kapoor in Hanoi on August 14.
The Deputy PM highly appreciated AstraZeneca’svaluable and timely support for Vietnam in the fight against COVID-19.
He expressed impression for AstraZeneca's ongoing collaborationactivities in Vietnam, particularly in the fields of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals,saying that this plays a crucial role in proactively preparing for potentialdisease outbreaks in the future.
Vietnam backs AstraZeneca's commitments to emission reductionand moving towards carbon neutrality in all its activities, Ha said,stressing that experience in COVID-19 prevention and control showed that theworld can only push back and end the pandemic if all countries have equalaccess to vaccines.
Similarly, the goals related to addressing climate change andreducing greenhouse gas emissions cannot be achieved if there are countriesthat stay "outside" these efforts, he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha (R) receives Chairman and General Director of AstraZeneca Vietnam Nitin Kapoor. (Photo: VNA) Ha emphasised the close relationship between human health andthe "health" of the environment, affirming that restoring andprotecting the natural environment is a crucial solution to prevent and reduce theburden of disease-related costs on people and society due to the pollution of water,air and waste.
Technology is a "vaccine" to address climate change,Ha noted, adding that developing countries like Vietnam greatly need supportand access to various solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Companies with strong research and development capabilities likeAstraZeneca play a important role in achieving climate change goals such as cutting emissions to net zero, and engaging in the Just EnergyTransition Partnerships (JETP) by joiningprojects for researching and transferring green fuel production technologies, anddeveloping smart transmission systems and large-scale energy storage devices, he said.
Mentioning AstraZeneca’s project to plant 22.5 million trees, the Deputy PM assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) andthe Department of Climate Change under the Ministry of Natural Resources andEnvironment to work closely with AstraZeneca to effectively perform theproject.
He expressed his hope that AstraZeneca will engage in projectsrelated to the roadmap for achieving net zero, and JETP in Vietnam, which serveas experimental and pilot initiatives for global mechanisms.
For his part, Kapoor briefed the Deputy PM on several collaboration programmes and projectscurrently underway in Vietnam to strengthen patients’ access to medicines,develop a sustainable healthcare system, improve public health, and conduct clinicaltrials for drugs and biopharmaceuticals.
AstraZeneca is collaborating with Vietnamese agencies andpartners to implement a reforestation and landscape restoration project worth 50million USD, which aims to plant 22.5 million trees over 30,500 ha, thus creatingconditions for biodiversity development and providing sustainable livelihoodsfor more than 17,000 households, Kapoor said.
He noted his hope that the project will serve as a pilot initiative in theaction plan of the NationalSteering Committee for implementing Vietnam'scommitments at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), therefore encouraging other organisations andbusinesses to jointly take actions to respond to climate change./.
