A signing ceremony of the Record of Discussions took place on May 19 in Hanoi for the “Project for Innovation of Science and Technology on Natural Rubber for Global Carbon Process”.
The event was held by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan Science and Technology (JST), in co-operation with the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) and the Nagaoka University of Technology (NUT) of Japan.
The project is being funded as part the official development assistance (ODA) provided by the Government of Japan through the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) Programme, which is co-financed by JICA and the JST.
It will be implemented by HUST and NUT for five years up to 2027 and is considered as the development of the previous JICA-JST joint project for “Establishment of Carbon-Cycle-System with Natural Rubber”, which was completed in March, 2016.
The primary focus of the project will be the development of advance technologies to establish a large-scale production for protein-free natural rubber in the nation. In addition, new technologies for biodegradation of rubber products and low greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, as well as rubber production wastewater system with resource recovery will also be developed.
Professor Yamaguchi Takashi, team leader of the Japanese researchers' groups, said that the purpose of the project is to establish an industrial base to increase the utilization of natural rubber as a sustainable use of biological resources.
The Vietnamese Government previously announced its strong commitment in achieving net zero emission by 2050, with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh calling on stakeholders, including ministries, local authorities, and businesses, to make action plans on GHG reductions. This should be carried out across all sectors aligned with the target of carbon neutrality by 2050.
“Technological innovation is the key for us to fight against climate crisis and we believe that this Project will set a good example of collaboration between Japanese and Vietnamese research institutes in pursuing breakthrough technologies for development of sustainable products and contribution to GHG emission reduction,” said Shimizu Akira, Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office.
With regard to the technical co-operation projects implemented by HUST and NUT, Associate Professor Huynh Dang Chinh, vice-president of HUST, expressed his gratitude to the Japanese Government for providing such a valuable support to HUST.
“This is one of our important internationally joint research project which HUST has been participating in preparing for implementation and I strongly believe that working with leading Japanese scientists from Nagaoka University of Technology will help improve the capacity of innovation and creativity in scientific and technological research in general and in the field of natural rubber research in particular for Vietnamese researchers, helping Vietnam overcome new challenges such as achieving net zero emission target by 2050,” he said.
VOV
