Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng gives a speech at the 2026-27 academic year opening ceremony to welcome freshmen students at the Việt Nam National University-HCM City on October 13. — Photos courtesy of VNU-HCM

HCM CITY — Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng attended the 2026-27 academic year opening ceremony at the Việt Nam National University-HCM City (VNU-HCM) on October 13, urging the institution to spearhead strategic technology autonomy and talent cultivation.

Under the theme “VNU-HCM with the Aspiration for Strategic Technology Autonomy through Vietnamese Talent”, the annual event marks the start of the new academic year while connecting generations of lecturers, scientists, students and alumni across the entire university system.

Speaking at the event, PM Hưng highlighted the pivotal role of higher education as the core driver for developing high-quality human resources, nurturing talent, and advancing science, technology, and innovation to enhance national competitiveness.

He praised VNU-HCM’s key contributions over its 31-year development as a leading hub for education and scientific research, currently educating over 110,000 students across 180 internationally accredited programmes.

Looking ahead, he urged VNU-HCM to demonstrate greater determination and ambition.

“The university must become the country’s premier hub for discovering, training and gathering top talent,” PM Hưng said.

“It needs to build a continuous talent ecosystem connecting top-performing school students, undergraduates, postgraduates, young scientists, and leading experts, especially in basic sciences and strategic technologies.”

He urged the university to serve as a reliable policy consultation and debate centre, bringing academic knowledge from lecture halls and laboratories directly into policy-making and socio-economic governance.

Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng inspects research products showcased at the “Made by VNU-HCM” exhibition during his visit to the Việt Nam National University-HCM City on October 13.

He called for stronger integration of training, research, and innovation, and tasked VNU-HCM with mastering core strategic technologies that result in competitive, Vietnamese-branded products.

He said the Government strongly supports decentralisation to enable national universities to transform into elite, world-class institutions.

He asked relevant ministries to research mechanism options, such as lump-sum funding, to help scientific results cross the 'valley of death' from laboratories to the market.

He also called on local authorities across the Southeast and Mekong Delta regions to place direct orders and invest in shared infrastructure at VNU-HCM.

Addressing the students, PM Hưng said: “The country needs not only tech-savvy individuals, but also people with competence, responsibility, global knowledge and a Vietnamese soul—who dare to think, dare to do, dare to innovate, and dare to take responsibility for their own choices.”

Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai, chancellor of the Việt Nam National University-HCM City, speaks at the 2026-27 academic year opening ceremony on October 13.

Strategic technology roadmap and institutional reforms

Associate Professor Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai, chancellor of VNU-HCM, said a university does not become great because it has many units or a large number of learners.

“The stature of a university lies in the people it educates, the knowledge it contributes, and its presence when society needs a trustworthy solution,” she said.

“The country does not need another giant machine. The country needs a giant that knows where it is going, knows to whom it is accountable, dares to accept difficult tasks, and dares to say what needs to be said.”

Regarding development goals, Mai said VNU-HCM’s ambition extends beyond global rankings.

“We want young Vietnamese people working at scientific centres around the world to look back here and see an environment worthy of returning to or collaborating with in the long term,” she said.

She proposed that the PM direct the early issuance of a new Decree on national universities—an institutional framework wide enough for universities to proactively organise, train, attract experts, and partner with enterprises, yet tight enough to ensure accountability

Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng and the Việt Nam National University-HCM City chancellor Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai present awards to lecturers, scientists, and students participating in the nationwide 500-day campaign to speed up the search for, recovery and identification of martyrs' remains.

VNU-HCM outlined a three-stage roadmap for strategic technology development. In the immediate phase, it focuses on applicable research in artificial intelligence (AI), edge chips, biological preparations and molecular diagnostics.

By 2030, it aims to establish public-private collaborative research clusters focusing on Vietnamese large language models, vaccines, cell technology, energy storage batteries, green hydrogen, and quantum technology.

Beyond 2030, it plans to build autonomy in deep tech sectors such as sovereign AI, 6G chips, aerospace, precision medicine, and nuclear energy.

By 2030, VNU-HCM targets obtaining 100 international patents, developing 10 strategic technology products, mastering 15 core technologies, forming 20 strong research teams, and cementing its position among Asia’s top universities.

A highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of gifts by PM Hưng to honour individuals who participated in the nationwide 500-day campaign to speed up the search for, recovery and identification of martyrs' remains.

Lecturers, specialists, trainees and alumni from HCM City University of Technology and HCM City University of Science applied geophysical survey methods, data analysis and site zoning to support functional forces.

Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng and the Việt Nam National University-HCM City chancellor Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai award top entrance examinees and graduates at the VNU-HCM opening ceremony on October 13.

The PM and VNU-HCM leaders also awarded 17 top performers in the 2026-27 entrance exams and top graduates of the 2025-26 academic year.

At the event, an exhibition themed “Made by VNU-HCM” displayed 23 scientific and technological research topics across five strategic technology groups, including a four-legged firefighting robot, brain-computer interfaces, AI applications in biomedicine, semiconductor microchips, indigenous herbal products, stem cell technology, microneedle patches, and next-generation solar cells.

Seven businesses and partners also presented sponsorships worth more than VNĐ160 billion (US$6.3 million) to support VNU-HCM’s development. — VNS