British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has announced new investment of up to VND1.2 trillion ($50 million) for forest and landscape restoration in Vietnam, as part of its global program called AZ Forest.
The investment was announced at a ceremony on May 5 in London, in the presence of Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK, H.E. Nguyen Hoang Long, and global and regional leaders from AstraZeneca.
The $50 million will be used for agroforestry, which includes the production of sustainable timber, fruit, and nuts, and essential oils and resins, and to increase agricultural productivity through intercropping and developing sustainable market value chains.
It complements AstraZeneca’s ongoing VND7 trillion ($310 million) investment in Vietnam from 2020 to 2030 to reduce the burden of disease, strengthen the healthcare system, boost local biopharmaceutical research and development (R&D) and manufacturing capabilities, and develop local talent.
According to AstraZeneca, it is expected that 22.5 million trees will be planted on more than 30,500 ha of land over the next five years, to restore forests and landscapes in Vietnam, facilitate the development of biodiversity, and supplement sustainable livelihoods for more than 17,000 farming households.
Reforestation will be designed to maximize co-benefits such as biodiversity benefits on a large scale, improvements to food and nutrition in local communities, soil and water conservation, the enhancement of adaptability to climate change, reduction of risks from natural disasters, and carbon sequestration.
Speaking at the announcement, Minister Son said the investment will play an important role in supporting the Vietnamese Government’s 2050 net-zero strategy, which it committed to at COP26. The AZ Forest program will also contribute to the country’s ongoing plans to plant 1 billion trees by 2025, as part of its Forestry Development Strategy.
For his part, Mr. Nitin Kapoor, Chairman and General Director of AstraZeneca Vietnam and Asia Area Frontier Markets, expressed his pleasure at the program and affirmed AstraZeneca’s long-term commitment to Vietnam. “We recognize the deep interconnection between population and planetary health, and believe that this program will significantly benefit our local economy, communities, and the environment over the next 30 years,” he said.
AZ Forest is AstraZeneca’s commitment to plant and maintain over 50 million trees by the end of 2025 in partnership with experts and local communities. Its projects support planetary and human health with significant socio-economic co-benefits, and complement AstraZeneca’s science-based net-zero strategy called Ambition Zero Carbon.
Through this strategy, AstraZeneca is pursuing ambitious, science-based decarbonization targets, accelerating progress towards net-zero and managing the risks and opportunities presented by climate change.
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