The event is part of a project funded by the US Agency for International Development to create a strategy for increased involvement of the private sector in bird flu awareness raising.

The project, implemented by the Australian Foundation for Peoples of Asia and the Pacific (AFAP) and Kenan Institute Asia, is entitled “Targeting Avian Influenza in northern Hoa Binh province and surrounding areas”.

The seven-month project, which will last until this August takes an innovative dual approach to th e private sector through the participation of ground level sales and marketing practitioners as well as senior executives.

“With the recent recurrence of bird flu in Vietnam, this workshop is timely, and we hope it will begin a very important dialogue between the public and private sectors in terms of enhanced cooperation in raising public awareness of avian influenza, said Uma Menon, AFAP Vietnam Country Director.