Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc (KBLB)

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Vietnam silk-makers embrace technology transfers to revive production
By Jens Kastner 03 September 2015
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Vietnam’s fledgling silk sector is aiming for sustainable growth, competing with China’s dominant silk producers by stressing the quality of their production and securing technology transfers from abroad. Japanese companies have been helping install new production systems and an American GM silk specialist is negotiating a partnership deal.

Despite its long traditions (silk fabric in Vietnam dates back to 2,000BC), the country’s silk sector has in the short term been struggling with local difficulties. A high-profile corruption scandal in 2011 led to the closure of the Vietnamese-Japanese silk joint venture, Visintex Textile Company – but its assets were later taken over Vietsilk Ltd Co, a private operator.

Nguyen Thanh Hung, an official at Vietsilk, based in Lam Dong province, north-east of Ho Chi Minh City, however is optimistic. He told WTiN He said: “Last year and this year, we have been experiencing a boom-like order situation. Silk fabric-making used to be a traditional business done in Vietnam’s small villages, but now we have the technology to boost quality and quantity from Japan and other foreign countries.”

It will certainly need investment to grow. The International Sericultural Commission said Vietnam produced only 420 tonnes of silk in 2014, and this came from around 100 manufacturers – many of them small, said Nguyen. This is [a tiny fraction of neighbouring China’s 146,000 tonnes output, but if Vietnam grows its silk industry, it would be building from a solid high quality base. Nguyen explained that Vietsilk’s key Japanese buyers use Vietsilk’s silk mainly for kimonos sold in the Japan market, meaning there is virtually “no room for corner-cutting in terms of quality”.

He added that Vietnam’s competitive edge derives from Vietnam’s superior worms and cocoons. Moreover, Japanese clients have introduced state-of-the-art machinery, their detailed work ethic and high quality requirements. Australia is Vietsilk’s other main export market, according to Nguyen.

Looking ahead, significant technology transfers into the Vietnamese silk sector are also expected from the USA, with Michigan-based Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc, a leading developer of transgenic silk-based fibres. It said had struck a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Vietnamese provincial government following talks with Vietnamese national and provincial government officials that will be turned into a formal agreement later this year. It involves creating and rearing transgenic silkworms in Vietnam. Kraig Biocraft would not disclosed the provincial government’s name to WTiN, owing to a confidentiality agreement, but said that the partnership would specifically develop advanced research and development facilities in Vietnam, as well as pilot the production of transgenic hybrids.

“We chose Vietnam for its tremendous skill base in rearing silk worms, the processing of silk, as well as some other relevant fields,” said Jon Rice, COO of Kraig Biocraft. “Basically, we will be changing Vietnamese silk so that it is a stronger, more flexible fibre.”

Rice explained that the actual rearing of the transgenic silk worms is exactly the same as the rearing of traditional silk worms, translating into “a labour pool and operational costs that are the same.” Applications for Kraig Biocraft’s Vietnamese-made silk will range “all the way from performance textiles to cosmetics,” he added.

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