Ten-year socioeconomic strategy mobilizes science, tech, innovation

Key role for enterprises

Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat said the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) has registered to submit five laws for approval to the National Assembly, including the Law on Science and Technology.

The draft strategy on STI in the 2021-2030 period affirmed that the development of STI is a strategic breakthrough to promote economic growth, increasing productivity, quality, efficiency and competitiveness for rapid and sustainable socioeconomic development. The strategy calls for Vietnam to become a developing country with modern industry and upper middle income by 2030 and a developed high-income country by 2045.

The rate of enterprises with innovation activities is expected to reach 40 percent of the total number of science and technology enterprises

According to Hoang Minh, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Science, Technology and Innovation under the MoST, the strategy aims to mobilize science and technology to serve socioeconomic development, in which enterprises play a central role. In the general trend in the world today, science and technology create knowledge, while innovation aims to turn knowledge into helpful products, goods and services.

The target set for this decade is for science and technology to contribute 45 to 50 percent to the total factor productivity index (TFP), accounting for at least 45 percent of the product prices in the processing and manufacturing industries. By 2030, investment in science and technology aims to reach 1.5-2 percent of GDP.

The development of innovation ecosystems in industries, agriculture and services is connected with domestic and global value chains, in which large enterprises have central roles in leading production, business and innovation. “The roles of state management agencies are creating a favorable institutional environment, policies, and linking businesses, production organizations, research institutes and universities to promote research, application and innovation to improve competitiveness and economic efficiency,” said Minh.

Developing innovation ecosystems

Promoting commercialization

A representative of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology said that in order to innovate successfully, leaders must be innovative thinkers. The results of innovative missions must always be associated with intellectual property in order to promote commercialization and enhance the value of technology.

He said the state needs to establish a National Innovation Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, set up a venture capital fund to support spin-offs at major research institutes and universities, and particularly, test the commercialization models of particular technologies (sandbox) with a special mechanism at universities and large research institutes.

President of the Vietnam National University, Hanoi Le Quan said cooperation in the development of STI is needed to jointly solve important issues of industry, the country, as well as other international and regional issues of common concerns. Research needs to be linked to social needs. In the coming period, relevant parties need to focus on supporting enterprises in technological innovation, and targeting public-private cooperation in science and technology to promote innovation.

As the owner of three exclusive patents and dozens of other useful inventions, such as a medical waste treatment furnace and a turmeric curcumin extractor, inventor Trinh Dinh Nang from Bac Kan Province said that in order to develop STI, the country must have leading technology products. The State should adopt more support mechanisms for amateur inventors in terms of funding and policy mechanisms to develop their research products.