Professor Paul Teng delivered four anchor keynotes in a series of conferences titled “Biotechnology: Growing the Future”, organized by the Embassy of the U.S.A., in Hanoi, Vietnam. The series was held over one week, 29 Sept - 3 October 2008, in four cities -- Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, Hanoi and Vien Yen City.

Professor Teng was selected for this conference series by the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Speaker and Specialist Grant Program in recognition of his expertise in the commercial and food security applications of plant biotechnology.

The conference series generated more than fifty media reports in television, radio and print media, and attracted participation from over five hundred scientists, government officials, academics, media and politicians.

The following presentations by Prof Teng are available in PDF format on request from paul.teng@nie.edu.sg:

• 29 September 2008, Ho Chi Minh City: Biotechnology offers a bright future for agriculture. (Addresses how Vietnam can move forward with biotechnology to maintain food security and competitiveness)

• 30 September 2008, Can Tho City: Biotech Crops and their Benefits: Growing the Future. (Addresses how the public sector uses GM technology to benefit producers and consumers)

• 2 October 2008, Hanoi: Moving forward in agriculture using biotechnology. (Addresses biotech progress and its promises, and how to ensure Vietnam derives benefits)and GM Food Labelling (Addresses the background of inter-country differences to GM food labelling, detection techniques and costs, implementation difficulties and shares detailed examples from two countries.)

• 3 October 2008, Vien Yen City, Vinh Phuc Province: Conducting Field Trials as part Of the approval process for Biotech (GM) Crops. (Addresses policies protocols and procedures for field trials).