AstraZeneca announces up to $50 million investment in forests and landscape restoration in Vietnam

AstraZeneca has announced a new investment of up to $50 million (1.2 trillion VND) into Vietnam, as part of the Company’s global AZ Forest programme. Their programme has planted over 10.5 million trees worldwide by the end of 2022.

The global, science-led biopharmaceutical company focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialisation of prescription medicines and has cooperated over the last three decades with the Vietnamese Government in order to reinforce the Vietnamese health system and promote disease awareness, prevention, and early detection.

AZ Forest Programme

Their programme AZ Forest supports planetary and human health with significant socio-economic benefits, and complements AstraZeneca’s ambition to achieve Zero Carbon emissions. Indeed, the Company is on track to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions from its global operations and fleet by 98% by 2026 from a 2015 baseline.

AZ Forest also complements the Vietnamese Government’s plan to plant one billion trees by 2025 and National Strategy on Climate Change for 2050.

This $50 million investment will be used for agroforestry, as well as increasing agricultural productivity. It complements AstraZeneca’s ongoing $310 million (7 trillion VND) investment into Vietnam from 2020 to 2030 to reduce the burden of diseases, strengthen the health system, as well as to uplift the domestic biopharmaceutical and manufacturing capabilities.

Over the next five years, 22.5 million trees will be planted across at least 30,500 hectares to restore Vietnam’s forests and landscapes, allowing biodiversity to flourish, and providing sustainable livelihoods for over 17,000 smallholder farmers.

Reforestation will be designed to maximise co-benefits such as:

• Broad-scale biodiversity gains
• Improved diets and nutrition for local communities
• Soil and water conservation
• Climate resilience, reducing the risks of natural disasters
• Carbon sequestration

The announcement ceremony

The announcement ceremony in London, UK, today was attended by H.E. Bui Thanh Son, Vietnam Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Nguyen Hoang Long, Vietnam Ambassador to the UK, and AstraZeneca global and regional leaders.

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son shared at the ceremony that the investment announced by AstraZeneca would play an important role in supporting the Vietnamese Government’s 2050 net zero strategy which was committed at COP26.

The AZ Forest programme would also contribute to the country’s ongoing plan to plant one billion trees by 2025, as part of Vietnam’s Forestry Development Strategy.

Minister Bui Thanh Son highly appreciated AstraZeneca’s ongoing strong collaboration, to not only improve the health of Vietnamese people but also support our sustainable development.

Nitin Kapoor, Chairman and General Director of AstraZeneca Vietnam and Asia Area Frontier Markets, said: “Following the discussion between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and AstraZeneca CEO Sir Pascal Soriot in Hanoi last May, we are pleased to announce this programme which further demonstrates our long-term commitment to Vietnam. We recognise the deep interconnection between population and planetary health, and believe that this programme will significantly benefit our local economy, communities, and the environment over the next 30 years.”