Speakers at Techfest Vietnam 2021, the largest annual event for innovative start-ups in Việt Nam which has finished its 7th edition last year. — VNA Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam has set a target to speed up the development of science and technology for the 2021-30 period with the establishment of modern research and development centres in both public and private sectors as a core mission objective. 

Technology and innovation play a key role in improving Vietnamese firms' productivity, product quality and competitiveness as well as the country's socio-economic development, said deputy minister of science and technology Lê Xuân Định, added that policy frameworks to regulate and encourage investments in science and technology were of great importance, especially as the world entered the fourth Industrial Revolution. 

Định said his ministry has started a number of programmes to aid firms in developing and adopting modern technology and lay the groundwork for Việt Nam's advanced technological application as well as the development of artificial intelligence. 

In order to realise these objectives, the ministry said the private sector has a large part to play in both the development and application, especially in key sectors including agriculture, healthcare, industrial production and telecommunications. 

The pandemic, which hit Việt Nam particularly hard in 2021, has forced domestic firms to double their digitalisation efforts and to utilise advanced technology to adapt to the new normal and extended periods of lockdown and mobility restrictions. 

2021 saw the rapid development of the country's digital infrastructure and applications as a response to social distancing requirements and firms' efforts to keep operations running. Việt Nam's start-up scene also saw thousands of new firms enter the playground with home-grown technology to compete on a global scale, he said. 

The Government has set up centres in 13 cities and provinces to assist Vietnamese start-ups, notably with the establishment of the National Start-up Support Center, which was tasked with building a support network for start-ups across the country. 

Việt Nam ranked 44/132 in the Global Innovation Index in 2021 with more than 18,500 scientific and technological discoveries, a 2.5 per cent increase compared to the previous year. 

Minister of Science and Technology Huỳnh Thành Đạt said investment in Vietnamese tech start-ups hit a record high of US$1.3 billion in 2021. Vietnamese researchers and scientists from all over the world have set up a support network to nurture Việt Nam's start-up ecosystem and to connect with the global start-up scene. 

Đạt urged government agencies to actively engage with Vietnamese intellectuals to find solutions to issues related to the country's socio-economic development. He also called for research institutes and universities to provide additional support for Vietnamese start-ups. The minister said it is to start a pilot programme to introduce corporate institutions for scientific research in Việt Nam with the aim to better connect the business and scientific sectors. 

Local governments, particularly those in remote and isolated regions of the country, must double their efforts to adopt and implement technologies and innovations to make the most out of their locality's competitive advantages. 

For its part, the ministry will continue to support them in connecting with potential foreign partners, in improving product quality and safety, and in securing access to foreign markets, especially for Vietnamese agricultural products. The ministry will also support Vietnamese firms in registering and protecting their intellectual properties in foreign markets. In 2021, VIệt Nam successfully registered a number of brands in the Japan, EU and US markets, notably Lục Ngạn lychee and Bình Thuận dragonfruit. 

Đạt advised localities to identify and invest in only a few products with which they enjoy great competitive advantages. The next step is to seek out partners from the public or private sectors, preferably ones with technological expertise and capacities, to help develop their products further to improve quality and produce added value. 

Speaking at a recent conference on the implementation of science and technology in economic development, Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam said the Government is to consolidate and redesign Việt Nam's scientific institutions and centres in a near future in favour of a more streamlined and efficient system. 

Đam said the Ministry of Science and Technology's key mission for 2022 was to ramp up cooperation with other ministries such as the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to bring innovations to production sites and to shore up its capacity to manage and support the development of science and technology. 

The deputy PM said it's time for government officials to ditch their risk-averse approach for science and requires a risk-taking attitude as well as long-term investments to produce results. The ministry and other science centres must make it their highest priority to improve transparency and effectiveness to make the most out of their budget. — VNS