Because Vietnam is located in the hot and humid tropical monsoon climate, plant resource is abundant and diversified. According to preliminary data of the medicinal herb industry, there are about 14,000 species of plants, fungi and algae, in which there are nearly 4,000 species of medicinal plants and fungi. Among 4,000 species of medicinal plants, there are 44 species currently being cultivated and harvested used as medicinal materials under commodity production scale.

Currently, the development of medicinal herb industry is one of the important missions and gets a lot of attention from the Government and the concerned branches. Recently (on May 30, 2010), in Binh Duong, Drug Administration - Ministry of Health held a Science Workshop “The development of medicinal herbs and national medicine products.” with the attendance of Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, leaders of some ministries, departments, along with representatives of some universities, and enterprises specializing in medicinal herbs from Central Government and localities across the country.

At the conference, the delegates focused on some contents: “Development of medicinal herbs and national drug products: current situation and solutions”; “How to make the development of the medicinal herb industry deserve its current potentiality”; “The role and position of national drug products in the public health care industry and national development”; “What policies and mechanisms can develop national drug products”; “Agricultural policies and the development of major medicinal herb plantation in Vietnam”, etc.

A noticeable matter in the workshop is that among the memoirs and reports of 4 categories of participants (the Government, farmers, scientists and entrepreneurs), there is a thematic report of an enterprise currently in Binh Duong. It is a thematic report on “The development of Crinum latifolium L. - medicinal herb and medicine – Crila” of Thien Duoc Co. Ltd. in Nam Tan Uyen Industrial Zone – Binh Duong. This company specializes in Crinum latifolium L. tea bag and Crila capsule. Among them, Crila capsule formulated from clean herbal plant – Crinum latifolium L. is used to treat BPH, uterine fibroids and support the treatment for some cancers. Currently, Crila capsule was recognized as the national medicine product.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan specified the role, position, and strength of four participants: the Government, farmers, scientists, and entrepreneurs in coordination to develop medicinal herb sources and national drug products. Among them, the Government has a macro view of planning policies and mechanism: farmers develop medicinal herb resources; scientists study projects, entrepreneurs manufacture and sell herbal medicine products. He also called the involved ministries and departments’ attention to priority of investment in the development of Vietnamese medicine products derived from medicinal herbs such as Pimpinella anisum, Crinum latifolium L. and Ngoc Linh ginseng.