Attending the Vietnam Innovation Day 2024, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expected the National Innovation Center to be the heart of the innovation ecosystem, a fulcrum for the outstanding, sustainable development and global integration of young people…
On the morning of October 1, at Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park (Hanoi), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the Vietnam Innovation Day 2024 and the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the National Innovation Center (NIC).
The festival was jointly organized by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and relevant ministries and agencies, with the participation of about 1,500 direct delegates, 10,000 online delegates, and tens of thousands of delegates participating in activities held on October 1 and 2.
At the festival, many seminars and forums were held on four main topical topics: Vietnamese entrepreneurs and young generation in the face of the wave of artificial intelligence and semiconductor industry; Innovation and entrepreneurship in Vietnamese higher education; Career opportunities from new technologies; and International cooperation to develop human resources in the semiconductor industry.
At the ceremony, the five most outstanding solutions participating in the “Vietnam Innovation Challenge 2024” (VIC 2024) program co-organized by NIC and Meta were honored by the Prime Minister, including: Cadence (the world’s leading corporation in electronic design automation tools and microchip design) and Nexus Photonics (an optical chip design company co-founded by Vietnamese) in the semiconductor field; 3 representatives of FPT, Viettel and CHOSEN (from Thailand) in the field of artificial intelligence.
Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that Vietnam now has about 4,000 innovative startups, 208 investment funds, 84 incubators, 35 business promotion organizations, and 20 innovative startup centers; Vietnam’s innovative startup ecosystem is currently ranked 56th out of 100 countries; Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are among the top 200 innovative startup cities globally.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, Vietnam’s 2024 Global Innovation Index ranked 44/133 countries (up 2 places compared to 2023, up 4 places compared to 2022) and the United Nations’ 2024 E-Government Development Index increased 15 places, from 86/193 countries to 71/193.
Analyzing the global and domestic context in the coming time, the Prime Minister said that today’s world is changing rapidly; especially the explosive development of science and technology and the fourth industrial revolution have led to profound changes with great impacts and influences on a global scale and on each country and region.
The Head of Government said that Vietnam is facing great opportunities, but also many difficulties and challenges in science, technology and innovation. The biggest challenge is the competitiveness in technology compared to other countries in the region and the world; along with the fact that Vietnamese enterprises have not been able to fully master advanced technologies, especially in important fields such as semiconductor chips, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, etc.
NON-STOP INNOVATION
Sharing his views on promoting innovation in the coming time, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that innovation must be a strategic choice, an objective requirement, a key task, and a top priority to promote industrialization, modernization, and rapid, sustainable development.
Innovation must take people and businesses as the center, the subject, the goal, the driving force and the main resource, especially the young generation – the future owners of the country.
Innovation requires daring to think, daring to do, daring to act, daring to accept risks, daring to surpass oneself, daring to commit oneself for the benefit of the nation, people, and for the bright future of the country.
“Innovation is endless, limitless, and borderless. Vietnam must catch up, progress together, and surpass humanity in the process of innovation,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
Regarding tasks and solutions in the coming time, the Prime Minister pointed out 6 specific tasks and solutions.
Firstly, focus on perfecting institutions (policies to encourage businesses to invest in science and technology, innovation, ensure access to financial resources and infrastructure necessary for development…).
Second, increase investment in developing infrastructure systems (especially strategic infrastructure for transportation, energy, digital infrastructure, telecommunications infrastructure, data infrastructure, education and training infrastructure, etc.).
Third, develop high-quality human resources (strengthen coordination and linkage between universities, research institutes, and enterprises; focus on implementing the Training Program for 50,000 high-quality human resources in artificial intelligence, semiconductor technology, etc.).
Fourth, increase the attraction of financial investment sources (especially for research and development in fields such as AI, semiconductor industry, green energy, creating a foundation for sustainable development from the State budget, enterprises, people, domestic and foreign organizations…).
Fifth, strengthen and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of national governance (build a modern, standardized national governance system, create a favorable environment to promote innovation among people and businesses).
Sixth, strongly promote international cooperation (noting to promote international cooperation in transferring and applying modern technology, while promoting cooperation in research, development and mastering technology, promoting Vietnam’s role in promoting the development of science and technology, global innovation…).
“In short, institutions must be open, infrastructure must be smooth, governance must be smart and international cooperation and exchange must be close and effective,” the Prime Minister said.
IMPLEMENTING “4 TOGETHER”, PROMOTING INNOVATION
To promote innovation, the Prime Minister requested ministries and localities to focus on solutions to support the increasingly complete innovation ecosystem, in order to organize and implement innovation activities in each industry and field in a systematic and focused manner.
Along with that, the Prime Minister requested businesses, investors and people to actively and practically participate in innovation and start-up activities, helping Vietnam to soon catch up with countries in the region and the world.
The Prime Minister stated that, with the spirit of “4 together”: “Listening, understanding together”, “sharing vision and action together”, “working together, winning together and developing together”, “enjoying joy, happiness and pride together”, harmonious benefits, sharing risks between the State, people and businesses, the Government, ministries, branches and localities always respectfully listen to and thank the comments and contributions to review, amend and perfect related legal regulations, mechanisms and policies.
For scientists and young people, the Prime Minister hopes that scientists and young people have the mission of being both the founders, the implementers, and the pioneers of innovation, start-ups, research, development, and application of science and technology.
The Government and the Prime Minister request scientists and young people to make more efforts and try harder to create more and more effective products; at the same time, request universities and research institutes to create all favorable conditions in terms of facilities, equipment, laboratories, and remuneration for scientists and young people.
With partners and developed countries, the Prime Minister proposed cooperation and support for Vietnam in building and perfecting institutions, financial incentives, technology transfer, human resource training, improving management capacity, and organizing implementation in the innovation process.
On the occasion, the Prime Minister announced that October 1st of every year would be Vietnam Innovation Day to honor, encourage and promote innovation, a joyful and happy day for innovators.
Dare to think, Dare to do, Dare to innovate
The Prime Minister assessed that the establishment of NIC under Decision No. 1269/QD-TTg dated October 2, 2019 of the Prime Minister is the concretization of the Party and State’s guidelines and policies on promoting science, technology and innovation.
After 5 years of establishment and 1 year of inauguration of the Center, the National Innovation Center has achieved important initial results in terms of facilities, institutional and policy building (continuing to perfect the mechanisms, the highest preferential policies and the most favorable administrative procedures according to legal regulations).
Regarding connection and attracting businesses, many partners from various countries have participated and concretized cooperation activities through agreements and memorandums of understanding signed with NIC.
Regarding the construction of an innovation ecosystem, the Center has gradually become one of the leading innovation locomotives (to date it has developed to include 10 member networks and nearly 2,000 members in 20 countries and territories).
The Center has deployed activities in 9 areas (including: Artificial intelligence technology, semiconductor industry, environmental technology, smart cities, smart factories, medical technology, green hydrogen, digital content and cyber security).
In the coming time, the Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Planning and Investment to preside over and coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to focus on directing and further promoting the role of the Center.
In particular, it is important to focus on researching and proposing specific mechanisms and policies to effectively support businesses, especially high-tech, innovative, and start-up businesses. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen international cooperation, continue to expand the network of experts and scientists on innovation, and connect internationally.
The Prime Minister said that the Government will direct investment to complete the transport infrastructure system connecting Hoa Lac High-Tech Park, including NIC, especially the urban railway connecting to the center of Hanoi.
The Prime Minister believes that, with the spirit of “dare to think, dare to do, dare to act, dare to commit, dare to innovate”, under the leadership of the Party and State, the solidarity, joint efforts and consensus of the business community and people nationwide, we will achieve even greater achievements in innovation and startups.
The Prime Minister hopes that with the message “Innovation to break through, surpass yourself – Creativity to reach far, fly high in the sky of the digital era and green development of humanity”, Vietnam’s National Innovation Day will be a day to gather the wisdom of humanity and spread strong benefits to everyone.
“We hope and believe that the National Innovation Center will be the heart of the innovation ecosystem, a fulcrum for the outstanding, sustainable development and global integration of young people. The Center should lead the trend, spread creative thinking, and elevate Vietnam to a country that is the origin of innovation, capable of mastering technology, reaching the regional and world level, not only for application but also for contributing to shaping the future of the world,” the Prime Minister said.