Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan's interest in science stemmed from an urge to revolutionize the sector. He said, "Science and technological development is considered a top national priority, creating an important driving force in the industrialization and modernization of the country. However, this development will require much time and great efforts as scientific and technological backwardness is obvious than in other sectors."
Science and technology will boost the economy
According to Minister Nguyen Quan, science and technological development is a matter of national survival as it has helped many countries rise from the ashes of war.
"The leaders of South Korea and Japan all say the same. All these countries are poorer in natural resources than Vietnam, but they have risen to become great powers after from 50 to 60 years of scientific and technological revolution," he said.
Taking a look back on the development process of our country, Vietnam can be proud of 27 years of innovation, with spectacular annual growth rates from 7-8 percent since 1986. However, our growth rates were mainly based on three factors including removing obsolete mechanisms of the centralized bureaucratic economic regime, available cheap labor forces and natural resources.
All three factors are helpless now as we have become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). To be recognized as a market economy, Vietnam must replace old mechanisms, even the subsidies provided to state enterprises. Cheap labor is no longer an advantage because the country has crossed the threshold for middle-income countries and recently international companies have rushed to Myanmar for cheaper labor. The country's mineral resources are being exhausted and the Government has banned the export of raw materials such as titanium and bauxite, and coal is imported from Indonesia.
All politicians visiting Vietnam agreed that Vietnam should consider scientific and technological development to be of the same importance as educational development. Taking this into account, the Communist Party and the Government issued Resolution 2 at the 8th session of the Party's Meeting to give top priority to the development of science and technology and education. The country is amending the constitution with a greater appreciation for the role of science and technology and education, showing the Party and Government's awareness of their importance.
Three obstacles
Although scientific and technological development policies were agreed, their implementation has not been easy as they have received less public attention. The business community has shown almost no interest whatsoever in investing in scientific and technological development, and therefore, the state must use its budget for this task. Currently, the science and technology sector involves 3.6 million graduates, 50,000 researchers, 36,000 master degree holders, 18,000 doctors, 10,000 professors and associate professors.
Vietnam has almost no international scientific and technological publication, except for one or two patents registered in the United States. Many scientists have also admitted that the publication of research papers in international scientific journals was less than those achieved by a major university in a regional country.
Vietnam lacks any Nobel Prize winners and Prof. Ngo Bao Chau was only the first Vietnamese to win the Fields Medal. Meanwhile, an average international university could have dozens of Nobel laureates, while several universities in regional countries have also won the Nobel Prize and other major international awards.
The country has recognized that while there are large numbers of people employed in the science and technology sector, their achievements have been meager. Therefore, Vietnam must strive to catch up with Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore. Our science and technology development sector is growing at a snail's pace while the economy bounds at a rabbit's speed. "We cannot develop our country on the basis of natural resources without scientific and technological development because even the most oil-rich Middle Eastern countries have not become great powers," Minister Nguyen Quan said.
Science and technology investment returns great benefit
A scientific and tehcnological development center of Viettel Group
Minister Nguyen Quan said it was difficult to resolve these problems as the country has relied too heavily on the state budget for science and technology development. Two percent of the total annual state budget (equivalent to about 0.5 to 0.6 percent of GDP) has been used for science and technology development since 2000. which is a very high rate compared to other countries across the world.
However, this is a very low figure considering the total social investment for science and technology because we could not raise private investment into science and technology development, especially science and technology companies. According to statistics, the state budget annually spends about US$700 million on scientific and technological development while enterprises only invest about US$300 million. So, the country's total investment of more than US$1 billion for science and technology is extremely small in comparison with the needs of the sector.
International experience shows that in countries with developed science and technology, the proportion of investment in science and technology by the non-state sector is often larger than Government funding. For example, the Republic of Korea, Japan and China have achieved the proportions from 3:1 to 4:1. In these countries, state budgets only guarantee funding for basic national research.
If science and technology are crucial to the development of our country in the coming period, investment in it should intensified, if an average investment of US$10 per person involved in scientific development was made, Vietnam might never catch up with other countries. There are nearly 600,000 companies across the country, if they deducted 10 percent of their pre-tax profits for research and development, then the country would have about VND13.5 trillion, double current state budget spending.
However, some domestic companies have begun to pay attention to science and technology development. For example, the Viettel Group spent US$120 million, equivalent to 10 percent of its pre-tax profits, to establish a research institute in 2010, and can now manufacture several import substitutes.
In 2011, Vietnam Oil and Gas Group successfully launched the first Vietnam-made 90m water jack-up rigs with total investment of more than US$180 million, becoming one of 10 countries in the world and one of three countries in Asia capable of making self-elevating rigs.
Minister Nguyen Quan said, "Investment in science and technology will bring greater benefits to investors as every dong in investment may generate from five to six dong in return. So, those companies that are interested in science and technology development will develop faster than others. A science and technology development program has received special attention in the Communist Party's Resolution and is being implemented."/.
