Economic Section

U.S. - Vietnam Science & Technology Cooperation

S&T AGREEMENT AND ONGOING/PROPOSED S&T PROGRAMS

US-Vietnam Agreement for S&T Cooperation entered into force in March 2001; the first joint committee meeting was held in Hanoi, November 2001. The GVN's Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MOSTE) is the designated focal point for management and implementation. A Vice Minister chairs the Vietnamese committee. The following US agencies participated: State (S&T Adviser to the Secretary served as Co-Chair); Health and Human Services; NIH; DOE; NOAA (National Ocean Service, US National Weather Service, and National Marine Fisheries Service); NSF; Office of Naval Research; Office of Aerospace Research and Development (US Air Force); USDA; USAID. The following are existing or planned programs under the S&T Agreement.

Public Health: HIV/AIDS epidemiology, prevention, treatment and preparation for vaccine trials. Potential cooperative research on maternal and child health, including vaccines; nasopharyngeal, hepatic and pediatric cancer; emergency services; tropical diseases; metabolic diseases; traditional medicine and toxicology; public health genetics; bioethics on human subjects? research; tech transfer, particularly in vaccinology; mental health and clinical research.

Nuclear Research and Safety: Vietnam and US will attempt to reach a framework agreement on peaceful uses of nuclear energy. DOE will assist Vietnam in human resource development; nuclear regulations; nuclear rector technology; radiation protection and nuclear safety; nuclear power; radioactive waste management, environmental impact assessment of nuclear facilities; and application of nuclear techniques to health care, agriculture, industry and environment. Cooperation forms include exchange of information/expertise, seminars/workshops, training courses. US will support for ?Foot-Note-A? projects requested by Vietnam under IAEA-TC Program, and support Vietnamese scientists in Pierre Auger project on cosmic ray physics.

ICT Cooperation (proposed through USAID program): Technical assistance to build ICT legal framework in harmony with international law and regulations and telecommunications liberalization; increase quality of education and training (curriculum and general workforce); basic research cooperation; technical assistance on tech standards, FCC-type requirements; cooperation and penetration of ICT in all sectors; international linkages (academia, business, NGO, G2G, CIO, private sector); pilot projects in e-commerce, e-government, promotion of SMEs, involvement of private sector; creating competitive markets (regional and global); human resource development for ICT industry (focus on software professionals). NSF can facilitate new partnerships between US and Vietnamese scientists/engineers through cooperative research projects formulated and carried out jointly by principal investigators in two countries, and sponsor joint seminars/workshops that focus on developing plans for long-term cooperation.

Marine Research/Fisheries: Pilot project for integrated coastal management in Tonkin Gulf involving Ministry of Fisheries, Institute of Oceanography, NOAA, IUCN, and Reef Check; application of remote sensing GIS/GPS for improved coastal, marine and fishery management.

Hydrology/Meteorology: NWS and HMS signed an MOU in January 2001. Proposed activities are: HMS accessing basic data/products from NWS via Internet; one HMS meteorologist to visit National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) for training on quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF) analysis; possible transfer of QPF analysis technology; one HMS hydrologic expert trained in U.S. on river forecasting system; one NWS hydrometeorological expert to visit Hanoi to assist HMS and MARD in strengthening hydrometeorological capabilities; one HMS scientist to visit NCEP Climate Prediction Center to work on climate project; HMS to provide NWS long-period record station weather data; HMS to provide real-time daily station observations available through global telecommunications system (GTS); NWS to explore making gridded weather model data of Vietnam region available to HMS; Vietnamese computer scientists trained in U.S. on weather forecasting in AP region using high performance system.

Environmental Protection: EPA and MOSTE signed a State of Intent for cooperation on environmental protection on December 10, 2001. Joint programs are: implementation of unleaded gasoline program; air monitoring; use of the Internet; support for revision of 1993 Environmental Protection Law in legal analysis and drafting, technical assistance and training on various subjects such as revenue raising methods, public participation and environmental impact assessment, environmental enforcement and compliance; and one or two pilot projects to test the law revision in specific environmental media areas (e.g., air, toxic substances, water).

• Articles on S&T issues

• U.S.-VN S&T Agreement

• U.S. Government S&T-related web sites

• AO Position Paper

• IT issue papers

• Amcham paper

• Enviroment