The Conference lasted for two days 10th and 11th, June 2014 at the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS). It attracted the participations of domestic and oversea scientists, managers, representatives of research institutes, universities and enterprises... On the first day of the conference, the participants listened to presentations by managers and scientists from Vietnam and UK universities/institutes (University of York, University of Dundee, Institute of Food research in UK, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, VISTIP).
Presentations mentioned overall issues on the research and development of biofuels in Vietnam, introduce and exchange updated researching methods related to research on processing of bio-refining from rice straw, analyse structure of biomass, genome wide association studies of saccharification potential in Vietnamese rice collection… Speaking at the conference, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Tuat – deputy director of VAAS – mentioned some cooperation results between the UK and Vietnam in supporting training and researching Biofuel development from straw biomass. The head of UK delegation, Prof. Dr. Simon McQueen-Mason - Director and Chair in Materials Biology of Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP), University of York – emphasized the effectivenessand potentials for cooperations between Vietnam and the UK scientists in recent years, especially, in collecting, evaluating the commercial rice varieties to research on digestibility of rice straw for biofuel refinery, improving the bio-refinery process to produce bio-ethanol from rice straw for laboratory scale… At the conference, experts discussed with openness and exchanged opinions about the potentials use of biomass from rice straw as feedstocks in the production of biofuels… and the plans for future cooperation between the relevant partners.
On the second day of the conference, participants visited several rice-growing areas and met farmers and representatives of local governments in HaKy commune, Tu Ky, Hai Duong for the fact-finding. Then, the participants visited and exchanged with researchers in the laboratory of Field Crop Research Institute (VAAS) and School of Chemical Engineering (Hanoi University of Science and Technology).
At the end of the conference, on behalf of VISTIP and VAAS, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Tuat expressed his desire to open up opportunities for collaborative research between Vietnam and the advanced countries in the worldsuch as the UK in the field of biofuels in order to effectively use potential resources in Vietnam, as well as emphasized the support training and capacity building for Vietnamese experts, especially young scientists - one of the key tasks in the current period of Vietnam.