Lao Cai (VNA) – PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urged ministries, sectors and localities to seekmeasures to promote traditional herbal medicines, thus taking advantage of thecountry’s potential in the field.

Addressing a teleconference withleaders of 63 cities and provinces nationwide held in the northern province ofLao Cai on April 12, the PM noted that for thousands of years, Vietnam has usedherbal medicines to protect people’s health.

With three quarters of its naturalarea being mountains and forests, Vietnam has more than 5,000 precious herbal plantswith medicinal values, which are a great advantage for localities to exploitthe resources for domestic use and exports, he said.

PM Phuc affirmed that traditionalmedicines are a treasure of the country, which can contribute to povertyreduction and prosperity.

He asked for solutions to tackleproblems facing the sector, including poor planning in  developing production chains that leads to loweffectiveness and small-scale production as well as difficulties in markets,risk of extinction of many rare herbal plants and limited research and use ofadvanced technology in the field.

The government leader also suggestedsupport policies for herbal plant growing as part of high technologyagriculture development, while stressing the need to ensure confidentiality ofsome rare and precious herbal plants.

According to the Institute ofMedicinal Materials, Vietnam has 5,117 herbal plants and fungus, along with 408species of animals and minerals used as materials for nearly 1,300 traditionalremedies.

The domestic demand for herbalmedicinal materials is about 60,000-80,000 tonnes per year, mostly forproducing foods, medicines and cosmetics.

The Ministry of Health assessedthat the economic value of herbal plants is much higher than other food plants,suggesting that sustainable growing will help reduce poverty for many regionsacross the country.-VNA