Minister of Science and Technology Huỳnh Thành Đạt (centre) and other officials at the launch of the Provincial Innovation Index 2023 on March 12 VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) on March 12 released the Provincial Innovation Index (PII) 2023, the first of its kind so far.

The index aims to provide a general panorama of the socio-economic development model based on science, technology, and innovation of each provincial-level locality. It points out the strong and weak points, potential factors, and necessary conditions for boosting the science, technology and innovation-based development in each locality.

Minister of Science and Technology Huỳnh Thành Đạt said that since 2017, the Global Innovation Index (GII), published annually by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), has been used by the Vietnamese Government as an important source of reference to build and issue innovation facilitation policies.

Assigned by the Government, the MST has coordinated with WIPO and relevant agencies to design and pilot the PII in 20 localities in 2022 to measure their innovation capacity and performance. The PII has been officially applied nationwide since 2023, he noted.

The minister described the PII as useful as it supplies a scientific and practical foundation for agencies, organisations, and leaders of localities to build and implement policies to boost socio-economic development based on science, technology, and innovation.

He expressed his belief that the PII will also be helpful for investors to learn about the investment climate, conditions, and resources for production and business activities in different localities.

According to the PII 2023 results, the top 10 on the rankings consist of Hà Nội (62.86), Hồ Chí Minh City (55.85), Hải Phòng city (52.32), Đà Nẵng city (50.70), Cần Thơ city (49.66), Bắc Ninh province (49.20), Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu province (49.18), Bình Dương province (48.64), Quảng Ninh province (48.03), and Thái Nguyên province (47.75).

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hoàng Minh said the results match the socio-economic development status of localities. The ones ranking high on the list boast favourable natural and geographical conditions (mainly in the Red River Delta and the southeastern region), industry - construction and service sectors accounting for large proportions of their economies, many industrial parks, developed infrastructure, and strong scientific, technological, and innovative activities.

Meanwhile, the worst-performing ones are localities with modest socio-economic development along with natural and geographical conditions unfavourable for the development and application of science, technology, and innovation (mainly in the Central Highlands and the northern midland and mountainous region). — VNS