Cần Thơ organised the Cần Thơ Science, Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation Week 2025 (CASTID 2025) between December 16 and 20, 2025. The event attracted more than 60 institutes, universities, businesses and science and technology organisations from both inside and outside the city, showcasing over 500 products, solutions and technologies across a wide range of fields. — VNA/VNS Photo

CẦN THƠ — Cần Thơ is striving to transform itself from a traditional economic centre into a modern innovation hub.

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta city views innovation as the core driver of sustainable socio-economic growth and aims to rank among the top seven provinces and cities nationwide in the Provincial Innovation Index (PII) by 2030.

To realise this ambition, the municipal People’s Committee has issued a plan to improve the PII in the next five years.

Under the plan, the city will maintain its position in the top 10 for strong pillars such as institutions, impact, knowledge and creative outputs, and technology.

By 2030, it also aims to lift weaker pillars, including “human capital and research” and “infrastructure”, to seventh place nationwide, and “market development” and “business development” to 10th place.

According to Nguyễn Văn Khởi, vice chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, the city will implement five key groups of solutions.

For human capital and research, it will improve the quality of specialised education and seek better results in national excellent student competitions.

The city will gradually increase local budget spending on science and technology in line with economic growth, creating favourable conditions for research and development.

To strengthen the private sector, the city considers stronger business linkages essential.

It will prioritise attracting processing and manufacturing enterprises into concentrated industrial clusters to end scattered operations.

It will also introduce mechanisms to help firms access loans and long-term investment capital more easily.

Closer research co-operation between science and technology organisations and enterprises is expected to create new value chains and enhance the competitiveness of local products.

In infrastructure, the city will upgrade digital systems, e-government and shared digital platforms to support comprehensive digital transformation.   

It will expand the proportion of industrial land with complete and environmentally sustainable infrastructure to welcome new waves of investment.

In agriculture, the city will reinforce its regional role by promoting trademark and geographical indication registration for key products.

It aims to maintain its leading position nationwide in the number of products rated four stars or higher under the country’s “One Commune – One Product” (OCOP) programme, linked with high-technology application to boost export value.

The city has pledged to further simplify market entry procedures and ensure a fair and safe business environment.

It will promote a proactive administration that works alongside investors and resolves difficulties, taking business satisfaction as a measure of governance effectiveness.

The People’s Committee has assigned the Department of Science and Technology to monitor the plan and co-ordinate with central ministries and agencies to organise expert workshops to seek breakthrough solutions.

Local departments and authorities are required to regard science, technology and innovation as the central driving force for development and to treat improving the PII as a regular and ongoing political task.

According to the 2025 Innovation Index report released by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Cần Thơ ranked 10th among 34 provinces and cities nationwide with 46.21 points, maintaining its role as the “locomotive” of the Mekong Delta.

Its strongest pillar is institutions, ranking fourth nationwide thanks to timely policies on digital transformation and administrative reform.

Cần Thơ also affirmed its position as an agricultural centre by leading the country in applications for plant variety protection with a full score.

It is also among the top three localities for OCOP products rated four stars or above and for labour productivity growth.

Despite these gains, the municipal People’s Committee has acknowledged challenges that are holding back development.

The weakest pillar is “business development”, where the city ranks 29th out of 34 provinces and cities nationwide. Indicators on enterprise fixed assets are near the bottom at 32nd place.

Investment in science and technology remains modest at 0.03 per cent of Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP).

Human resources are another concern, as only 17.39 per cent of workers aged 15 and above hold formal qualifications or certificates, while performance in national excellent student training remains below the national average. — VNS