http://en.ird.fr/the-ird-in-the-world/asia/(view_mode)/rss fr The IRD has been present in South-eastern Asia (“Asie du Sud-Est” or ASE) since 1985. This is a very densely populated region and represents the world hot spot for emerging infectious diseases (particularly zoonoses). Currently, four IRD representatives are involved in eight countries in the region. Over thirty joint research units are developing projects there, including around 50 expatriates and more than 80 local personnel. The research and training activities are being developed in collaboration with more than twenty universities and around thirty institutions. The multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary expertise offered by the IRD enables the development of a regional collaboration between several members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The research areas include the entire disciplinary fields studied by the IRD: Environment and resources: climate change, natural and anthropogenic hazards, support for environmental issues, coastal oceanography, impact of agricultural practices on the environmental quality, soil microbiology, ecosystem services, biodiversity and preservation, volcanology, sustainable management (sustainable aquaculture, biotechnologies and improvement of rice crops, of rubber trees, and of other plant crops, information sciences and modelling of complex agricultural, urban, environmental and epidemiological systems, etc.); Health: fight against AIDS, and emerging infectious diseases, improvement of vaccine policies, fight against malnutrition, high mortality rates related to road traffic accidents, and cancers related to infectious agents, development of bioinformatics; Society (including preservation of heritage): public policies for the fight against poverty, and particularly issues and restrictions due to the economic transition, local heritage, settlement and migrations. The implementation of the collaborative tools has enabled us to better monitor PhD students and organise networks. Several recently established AIRD teams (JEAI) and joint international laboratories, which have proven to be efficient stepping stones for ambitious regional projects, are actively involved in the ASE region. The regional multidisciplinary pilot program “SELTAR or “Sols, eaux, littoraux, territoires et risques en Asie” – soils, waters, coasts, risk areas in Asia" combines 12 Asian countries, over thirty joint research unites and around a hundred researchers, teachers, engineers and PhD students. http://en.ird.fr/all-the-current-events/news/interdisciplinary-approach-to-the-management-of-hiv-a-model-for-other-infectious-diseases Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100 Thirty years after the discovery of HIV and AIDS, extraordinary progress has been made both with its prevention and treatment. During the last decade, with antiretroviral treatment, AIDS has become a chronic disease. Research must continue in order to make treatment sustainable, safer, simpler and less expensive. The life expectancy of HIV infected people has increased dramatically. However, people may suffer from other viral infections, if these infections are not treated or prevented. One example is chronic Hepatitis B infection which can lead to liver cancer. Similarly, cervical cancer, which is caused by the papilloma virus, is one of the most common cancers in women in Thailand. Additional challenges remain to be addressed, such as the specific needs of HIV-infected children and pregnant women. The success of HIV/AIDS research has been possible (and will remain possible) as a result of the effort for coordinated and multidisciplinary research which takes into account all aspects of the HIV: biology, epidemiology, medicine, economics, and social sciences. These activities have translated into sustainable management of the disease through the assistance of national and international policy makers, health economists, and all actors of civil society that mobilized to fight against the disease. This includes group of patients, local grass-root organizations, NGOs, activists, health care providers, as well as community leaders. HIV is not a unique challenge in public health, however, it is a model of international partnership between institutions for care, research, and public health. Symposium: “Interdisciplinary Approach to the Management of HIV: A Model for other Infectious Diseases?” Audience of the Symposium 16-18 March, 2011 - Chiang Mai, Thailand Chiang Mai University (CMU) and the French Research Institute for Development (IRD) have co organized an important symposium addressing whether the process which led to rapid advancements in HIV prevention and treatment could be a model for other infectious diseases. This symposium is one of the outcomes of the close collaboration between the Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences (AMS) and the Program for HIV Prevention and Treatment (PHPT). This symposium will specifically question whether the approach used for HIV research can be transposed or directly used to conduct research on other infectious diseases, some virus related cancers, or other chronic diseases. The objectives of this symposium are: To share results of the research conducted under the collaboration between CMU AMS and IRD PHPT. To contribute to the training of new teams of doctors and researchers on management and care of HIV infection To advocate this interdisciplinary approach for research and treatment of other infectious diseases. Chiang Mai University (CMU) and the French Research Institute for Development (IRD) are committed to pursuing further their fruitful collaboration and expanding the scope of their research to other diseases that are of significant public health concern in Thailand Opening ceremony in the presence of: Manit TEERATANTIKANONT, Director General, Department of Disease Control Public Health, Ministry of Public Health, Bangkok Michel LAURENT, President-Director General, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, France Jakkapan SIRITHUNYALUG, Vice President for International Relations and Alumni Affairs, Chiang Mai University Chiang Mai University Wasna SIRIRUNGSI, Dean, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University http://en.ird.fr/all-the-current-events/news/kick-off-meeting-of-the-research-project-seae Mon, 24 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0200 Contributing to the reduction of mortality and morbidity associated to infectious encephalitis in Southeast Asia, is the ultimate objective of the international projet SEAe. Coordinated by a network of universities and French research agencies, the SEAe project brings together partners, which are from healthcare institutions and universities of 5 South-East Asian countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Thailand, Vietnam) in order to improve diagnosis and medical care for patients by a better understanding of this syndrom. The kick-off meeting of the first phase will take place in Bangkok the 16th and 17th of September 2012. Encephalitis is defined as an acute inflammation of the central nervous system associated with neurologic dysfunction. They can be caused by infections by either bacteria or viruses although parasites and fungi can also be detected, especially in vulnerable people (young children, immune compromised patients, etc.). Because of high mortality and long-term neurological sequelae, encephalitis is of public health concern worldwide In Asia, dengue, Japanese encephalitis and West Nile virus are of major public health issues. Encephalitis caused by these diseases are among the most frequent and severe causes of pediatric hospitalization. Besides, emerging infectious agents in South-East Asia may be responsible for cases of currently unknown encephalitis. Identifying to enable timely diagnosis is of utmost public health importance. The SEAe project for «South-East Asia encephalitis» aims at improving the means of diagnosing encephalitis . Training of health professionals in the South-East Asian region will build preparedness and local capacity to control the emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. The kick-off meeting of the first phase of the project has been held in Bangkok, in Pullman Bangkok King Power Hotel, the 16th and 17th of September 2012. Local universities such as Gadjah Mada University Hospital in Indonesia, hospitals as Mahosot Hospital in Lao PDR or Chulalongkorn University Hospital in Thailand and provincial health centers of the South-East Asian region are in the central point of this project network. The implementation of this program is supported by French stakeholders from life and health sciences (Aviesan), involving the Institut Pasteur, the Inserm, the Cirad, the IRD, the Aix-Marseille University, the Fondation Mérieux, and teams from the Wellcome Trust. http://en.ird.fr/all-the-current-events/news/peers-ird-aird-seminar-globalisation-internal-migrations-and-risks-of-public-health-in-vietnam Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200 The Program of Excellence for Education and Research in South countries (PEERS) entitled « Spatial dynamics, risks and public health - the epidemics of HIV/AIDS in Vietnam » is a bi-disciplinary program (Economics-Demography) supported by IRD over a 2 years period (2011-2013). This research program aims at analysing the impact of international integration of Vietnam on the intra-national spread process of HIV/AIDS. The new Economics geographic teaches that the economic opening of a country is causing the redeployment of activities on the national territory, to the benefice of the regions caracterised by low-costs access to international markets. This redeployment of activities creates in parallel internal migratory flows whose the dynamic and the nature determinate the virus spread. This research programs intends to understand and to suggest a prospective analysis of the HIV/AIDS geography in Vietnam. This seminar tackles the thematics around health and internal migrations economy and will restitute the outcome of the PEERS program. http://en.ird.fr/all-the-current-events/news/projects-of-the-2013-bio-asia-program-involving-ird-teams-have-been-launched Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0100 Three projects involving IRD research units have been selected for the 2013 BIO-ASIA program. In order to develop their synergies, the kick-off meeting of their project was launched on March 25th and 26th in the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) in Vietnam. The Bio-Asia Regional Program is a French cooperation initiative targeting Asia in order to promote high-level networking collaboration in the region. The thematic selected for 2013 include the biodiversity, the sustainable uses of natural substances in health care, nutrition, agronomy, cosmetics and renewable energies. Each project must include at least one French team and at least two teams from two different Asian countries. Emphasis is given to the education, thanks to the master student exchange programs between partners’ countries. This cooperation program is co-funded by IRD, which based its research policy on regional integrated partnerships. Three projects involving IRD teams have been selected for 2013 – 2014: - The BIOVECTROL project (“Studies on natural bio-insecticides from Southeast Asian plant biodiversity to control malaria and dengue vectors”) is aiming at developing bio-insecticides through the study of South-East Asian plants, particularly from Cambodia and Thailand, in order to elaborate efficient and environmentally respectful programs of control of malaria and dengue vectors. This project associates IRD and the University Aix-Marseille in France, Kasetsart University of Bangkok in Thailand and the University of Health Sciences of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. The project coordinator is Sylvie Manguin (MD3 research unit). - The ESTAFS project (“Ethnobotany for Sustainable Therapy in Aquaculture and Food Safety”) is based on the botanical knowledge of Asian ethnic minorities and traditional fish farmers, in order to find alternative to antibiotic treatments massively used in fish farming, thus having an impact on the environement and food chain safety. In France IRD (I-SEM research unit) and CIRAD (Qualisud research unit) are partners; the Research Institute for Fresh Water Aquaculture (BALITBANG KP), placed under the Ministry of Marine Affairs and the Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) in Indonesia and in Vietnam, the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) and the Hanoi University of Agriculture (HUA). Domenico Caruso (UMR IRD I-SEM) assures the project coordination. - The PHARMACOOP project (Pharmacochemistry and Pharmacology for Development) aims to create an inter-university network dedicated to the study of traditional pharmacopoeias of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The Faculties of Pharmacy of the Health Sciences University of Cambodia, the Health Sciences University of Lao, the Joint University of Pharmacy and Medicine of Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi in Vietnam are part of this network, including in France the UMR152 PharmaDEV IRD-Université de Toulouse III. This network aims at finding new bioactive molecules with therapeutic potential, through the study of traditional pharmacopeas. Eric Deharo and Françoise Nepveu (Pharma-Dev research unit) coordinate this project. Through this meeting, it was highlighted that, despite that the projects covers three distinct areas of study (aquaculture, vector control and health care), all had a strong ethnobotanical component, thus sharing the same common methodology and the same starting point: the survey among locals population aiming to document the traditional use of plants to treat specific diseases and repel mosquitoes. Besides, as the three projects share partners, studied area and disciplines, this joint meeting has enhanced the development of synergies. The Bio-Asia projects are subsidized by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs during two years and co-funded by IRD. http://en.ird.fr/all-the-current-events/news/signature-of-cooperation-executive-arrangement-between-ird-and-land-department-development-of-thailand Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0200 IRD welcomed at its head office in Marseilles, a delegation of the Land Development Department (LDD) of Thailand, on Tuesday, June 14. The co-operation between IRD and LDD is old and goes back to 1995. It relates to the rehabilitation, the preservation and the improvement of soil fertility in the context of increasingly intensive agricultural productions. The impact on the water resources is also part of joint researches. Michel Laurent, President of IRD and Thavatchai Samrongwatana, Director General of Land Development Department signed a co-operation executive arrangement which aims at strengthening the scientific co-operation in the field of soil sciences, to set up an analysis platform and a network of environmental observatories. © IRD / Philippe Chanard Signature of cooperation executive arrangement The vocational training will be led in particular within the framework of an International Joint Laboratory: Dynamic of Land Use Changes and Soil Ecosystem Services (LUSES). http://en.ird.fr/all-the-current-events/news/symposium-social-and-ecological-dimension-of-infectious-diseases Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0200 The regional symposium SEDID (Social and Ecological dimension of Infectious diseases ) brought together 90 researchers, engineers and students, from 6th to 7th october 2011 in Bangkok, at Mahidol University, with the participation of the 4 IRD representatives in Asia and two Directors of IRD Scientific Departments. During this symposium, multidisciplinary and regional research topics have emerged in these domains: To anticipate, evaluate and mitigate the risks For Infectious Diseases: Distribution patterns and scattering effects of pathogens in moist soil Land use change and the chorology of the vectors Zoonosis in Southeast Asia Relationship between geodynamics, biodiversity and societies General Framework Issues relevant to research in South East Asia (SEA) are based on the relationships between environment, society, economic development and, technological issues and the factors favoring the emergence as well as transmission of infectious diseases. They call for a multidisciplinary approach on several major cross-cutting themes such as biodiversity, changes in land use, development of new crops, migration of populations from the mountains to the plains or along the economic as well as ecologic corridors, degradation and/or development of coastlines, impacts of large dams and the economic as well as ecologic corridorswater resources. © Université de Mahidol Among the participants of SEDID: the Dean of the Faculty of Tropical Medicine of Mahidol University, the first Councillor of the Embassy of France, the Regional Counselor for Health issue of the Embassy of France, IRD representatives in Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, the directors of IRD scientific departments "Health" and "Environment & resources" and regional partners Objectives The general purpose of the Symposium was to promote the importance of multidisciplinary research focused on the link between Human and his environment through the presentation of historical experiences, models, or projects, current or past research activities, and feedbacks experience conducted in the SEA region and elsewhere, with the following specific objectives: To identify regional projects about the relationship between environment and transmission of pathogens. To identify emerging and reemerging infectious diseases caused by environmental changes and the lost of biodiversity in Southern and Southeastern Asia. To develop general guidelines for multidisciplinary projects integrating cross-cutting themes listed hereunder. The SEDID in a nutshell 90 participants :researchers, engineers, students, all of IRD Representatives in the Region and two Directors of IRD Scientific Departments (Environment and Health) Represented Countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Norway and France. 32 Oral Presentations have been organized in 5 sessions: Session I: Land use change Session II: Biodiversity and dilution effect Session III: Dams and water resources Session IV: Economic corridors Session V: Low lands, high lands and coastal zones Programme and abstracts of the SEDID Organisation Organized by IRD, by the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University and by the French Embassy IRD (Institut de recherche pour le développement) Jean-Pierre Dujardin, (UMR MIVEGEC) Régine Lefait-Robin (IRD Representative in Thailand) Olivier Evrard, (UMR PALOC) Serge Morand (CNRS/ UMR ISEM) Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University Ronald Morales Vargas (Department of Medical Entomology) Sungsit Sungvornyothin, (Department of Medical Entomology) French Embassy Christian Tosi (Regional Counselor for Health) http://en.ird.fr/all-the-current-events/news/the-2nd-steering-committee-meeting-for-smiling-project-in-south-east-asia Mon, 24 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0200 Contributing to the nutrition security of vulnerable populations in Southeast Asia, is the ultimate objective of SMILING, a European project that started in January 2012. The 2nd Steering Committee meeting has been held in Bangkok the 13th and 14th of September in the Sukosol Hotel. Coordinated by the NUTRIPASS Research Unit on "Prevention of malnutrition and related diseases" of the Institute of Research for Development (IRD) in Montpellier, SMILING brings together partners from South- East Asian countries such as Mahidol University in Thailand, SEAMEO Recfon in Indonesia, the National Maternal and Child Health Center in Cambodia, the Department of Fisheries Post-Harvest Technologies and Quality Control from the Ministry of Agriculture in Cambodia, the National Institute of Nutrition of Vietnam and the National Institute of Public Health of Lao PDR. There were also partners from european universities as University of Copenhagen, University Verening Voor Christelijk Hoger Onderwijs of Amsterdam, Wageningen University and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. This meeting has permitted to assess the project progresses and to discuss with all the parteners involved on the work done. It has been followed by a week of workshop on the Work Package 4, which deals with mathematical modeling of data processing from a software developed for this project, “Optifood”. This meeting enabled to assess the project progresses and the first outcomes of the research studies, to discuss of the work carried out by the consortium and to organize the coming tasks before the mid-term assemblee that will take place in February-March 2013, in Indonesia. This meeting was followed by a week workshop at the Mahidol University on the Optifood software, a model enabling to evaluate nutrition policy, that will be used for the next steps of the project. http://en.ird.fr/all-the-current-events/news/the-mekong-record-of-the-vietnam-war Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 Twenty years of war in South-East Asia, from 1955 to 1975, followed by political instability up to the end of the 1980s have strongly marked the environment. Analysis of Mekong Commission hydro-meteorological data showed IRD researchers and their partners that the changes in the great river’s discharge rate were correlated with the dramatic events which marked the whole region’s history. To characterize the effects of these events on the runoff which feeds the river system, the researchers focused on two war zones: one in southern Laos, subjected to heavy bombing, the other in the North of the country, the arena for intensive land-based military operations. Destruction of forest cover to expose the enemy © IRD / Alain Pierret Craters of bombs Between 1965 and 1975 South-East Asia was the theatre of the heaviest bombing campaigns in human history. In the first area studied, as many bombs were released as in the whole world over during the Second World War. In the face of elusive guerrilla forces, bombing systematically destroyed the vegetation cover that sheltered the enemy and camouflaged the Ho Chi Minh trail, a network of roads and tracks used by the communists in the North to supply South Vietnam. One kilogram of artillery wipes out over 12 m² of vegetation cover. The amplitude of the environmental effects of such an attack was appalling: between 8 000 and 40 000 km² are estimated to have been deforested just over this study zone, amounting to 70% of its surface area. This massive destruction of tropical forest was followed by recolonization of land by herbaceous or scrubby vegetation that had been less completely uprooted. The whole process brought about a drastic reduction in average annual evapotranspiration and a substantial increase in runoff in that area: over 50% more between 1972 and 1975, then 15% more between 1975 and 2004. Flight from the war and its political consequences © IRD / Stéphanie Carrière Heavy bombing in southern Laos between 1969 to 1973, and population movements (here a group of Hmongs who emigrated to Thailand) have radically changes land use patterns and the water runoff feeding the Mekong. Indigo 19249   The second study area, in northern Laos, experienced a massive exodus of its people: 730 000 to one million fled Laos, escaping from war and from the subsequent power take-over by the Pathet Lao in 1975. These figures represent one-fifth of the country’s inhabitants of the time. This region was also home to a large number of Hmongs, who fought alongside the American army. Many of them fled to Thailand and the rest of the world at the end of the war. The land in the area had traditionally been cultivated, but once abandoned it was recolonized by forest. The research team observed that the resulting rise in evapotranspiration and improved infiltration of water in the soil afforded by the regenerated vegetation brought a reverse trend, an average 30% decrease in runoff, between 1995 and 2004. Only history can explain such changes In spite of data deficiencies, the results of these studies show clear trends towards increase or decrease of the Mekong’s discharge that were closely correlation with historical events and extensive land-use changes the region was subjected to during the 20th Century. © IRD / Olivier Evrard Today, human impact continues to exert effects on the hydrological regime: intensive mining and timber extraction, deforestation for agriculture. These new land-uses could in the long term generate water management problems and public policies must allow for these. What other factors could have the potential for exerting an impact on runoff? The climate, often invoked as the major determinant of hydrological change, is not involved here: rainfall remained stable throughout the study period. As for hydroelectric dams, constructed from 1970 on the Mekong and sometimes blamed, they drain only 2% of the catchments investigated and therefore have only a slight influence on the river’s discharge. Finally, urban expansion, a cause of possible increase in runoff, did not begin until the 1980s and is still a marginal phenomenon in Laos, where the demographic pressure remains low. Only the armed conflicts of the last Century can therefore explain such radical changes in runoff. This study provides lessons from the past for reasoned use of land and sustainable management of water resources. Today, for other reasons, human impact continues to have repercussions on the region’s hydrological regime. Intensive mining and extraction of timber, notably teak which is exported to the countries of the North, and clearance for agriculture. These new land uses could generate major problems in the short term, such as flooding or conversely water shortages, or pollution. They should be incorporated in public policies for water management in Laos. Read the complete scientific new sheet No 362 (PDF) http://en.ird.fr/all-the-current-events/news/vietnam-an-asian-miracle Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0200 Is Vietnam, on its scale, a representative of the Asian Miracle, akin to the continent’s four tigers -Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea? IRD scientists from research unit UMR Développement, institutions et mondialisation and their partners have studied the economic policies which have enabled that country to raise itself up, after decades of war followed by years of severe economic problems. Vietnamese success story © IRD / Marie-Noëlle Favier Far-reaching economic reform, run on an export-based growth model combined with redistribution of wealth, has enabled Vietnam to reduce poverty since the early 1990s and to appear among the emerging countries. Indigo 41316   Since the early 1990s Vietnam has experienced a spectacular decrease in poverty. The percentage of the Vietnamese population living below the poverty line fell from 58 % in 1993 to 14.5% in 2008. Twenty-five million people have thus emerged from poverty in 15 years. In urban areas in 2008, only 3.5 % of the population is considered to be poor, even though the cost of living continues to rise. Vietnam owes its people’s increase in wealth to the remarkable economic growth it has achieved over the past 20 years, one of the fastest in the world. The country thus recently entered the sphere of the emerging countries. A “socialist” form of capitalism. © IRD / Marie-Noëlle Favier . Indigo 41312   How has Vietnam managed so successfully in playing the capitalist game? The adoption in 1986 of Doi Moi , Vietnamese for “Renovation”, marked the country’s conversion to a particular model, a “socialist-based market economy”. A dynamic private sector then built up alongside a strong public sector. The public powers maintained control over whole areas of the economy such as energy, industry and banks. The State also continued to be highly active in running certain public policies (for agriculture, industry, planning and so on) and pursued price regulation for basic products and so on. Vietnam founded its drive forward on export-based growth and rapidly joined the international economy. Now it is the world’s top exporter of both Robusta coffee and pepper and second among clothing exporters to the American market. And it now takes an active part in international bodies. In January 2007, the country became the 150th member of the World Trade Organization. Distributed wealth However, the beneficial effects of the economic boom are not to the advantage of all Vietnamese. The Kinh majority is more strongly favoured than the ethnic minorities, most of whom live in the mountains or other remote areas, where poverty is still rife. To alleviate a potential rise in inequality, Vietnam pursues an ambitious policy of budget transfer from rich to poor regions. The wealthier areas transmit up to three-quarters of their receipts to the more deprived ones, for which these transfers can amount to half their GDP. This redistribution enables the poorer regions to develop their infrastructure (such as education, health, electricity, road network, water supply and drainage networks) and provide health cover and other social services. These strategies led to improvement in the human development indicators. Schooling rate in primary has reached nearly 100 %, life expectancy rose from 63 years 1990 to 68 in 2005 for men and from 67 to 73 for women. Vietnam is even ahead of schedule in its drive to meet the 2015 target for achieving the Millennium Development Objectives. Persistent insecurity © IRD / M. Razafindrakoto The global financial crisis has increased the weight of the informal sector in the labour market. Vietnam now has more than 8 million street vendors, traders and other undeclared workers, for whom the challenge is to reduce the high level of insecurity. Indigo 42929   To beat poverty completely, the country still has a number of challenges to meet. One in particular concerns the reduction of the informal sector, which operates like a parallel economy and maintains a high level of insecurity. This involves street vendors, tradesmen, domestic services and so on. In Vietnam over 10 million people who run small-scale businesses, practising without making any official declaration. The global financial crisis has on the whole been absorbed by the Vietnamese economy, but it has destroyed a large number of jobs and indeed reinforced the informal sector, where unfortunate working people have found refuge. This sector constitutes, agriculture excepted, 50 % of the labour market and generated an estimated 20 % of GDP. Some means of combating these trends exist, such as microcredit, or training. The research team observed, however, that their impact was still limited and short term. For this reason they recommend that support be provided for the informal sector as it is, with for example the setting-up of a social security system for workers in this informal sector. The government indeed recently adopted such a scheme. The informal sector is the primary generator of jobs. However, it is still largely neglected in the Vietnamese government’s policies, owing to insufficiency of official data. The research conducted is shedding light on the parallel economy. If Vietnam continues along this line and succeeds in combating informal workers’ insecurity and in reducing poverty among the ethnic minorities, in one generation it could join the sphere of the industrial countries [...] Read the scientific new sheet No 359 (PDF)