The Vietnamese Prime Minister signed the Decision 569/QD-TTg in 2022 to promulgate the Development Strategy in Science, Technology and Innovation in Viet Nam by 2030.

Development of science, technology and innovation is the top national policy for the Vietnamese government as it is the key motivation to promote growth; the decisive factor to improve competitiveness of Viet Nam; the platform to implement national digital transformation; and the significant contribution to improve people’s lives and sustainable development.

The Decision points out the needs for synchronous and multidisciplinary development throughout social sciences and humanities, natural sciences, technical sciences and technology. Meeting this target is the overall objective of the Decision by 2030.

Specific objectives that are closely linked to higher education and industry engagement within the Strategy are:

improving the contribution of science, technology and innovation to economic growth via scientific research and technological development activities of research institutes and universities, technological innovation; improve capacity for management and organisation in enterprises

by 2030, doubling the number of enterprises meeting the criteria for science and technology enterprises and the number of innovative start-up companies (in comparison with 2020), and increasing the rate of enterprises with innovative activities to be 40% of the total number of enterprises

increasing the number of international publications by an average of 10% per year; the number of patent applications and granted protection titles by an average of 16% - 18%/year; and developing national quality infrastructure (NQI) to meet the requirements for international integration in terms of standards, measurement and quality

Specific priority areas mentioned in the Strategy include social sciences, natural sciences, development and application of technology in ICT, Biotechnology, New Material, Automation, Marine, Natural disasters and Climate change, Energy, Environment, and Space. The document also suggests innovative activities in Agriculture, Industry, Construction and Transportation, and Services.

More detailed information can be found below.

British Council comments:

• Vietnamese universities put research development as one of the priorities in their development strategy, especially in the context of more and more Vietnamese universities joining and appearing in the global rankings for research, teaching and impact. They are open for partnership development with UK universities.
• Ministry of Science and Technology implemented Project 2395/QĐ-Ttg focusing on building capacity for human resource in science and technology overseas and in Vietnam. The Project provides funding for in-country and international training and capacity enhancement for experts, researchers, post-doctoral, and managers in science and technology by 2025. Focused areas include priority technology, new technology and high technology. Local research institutes and universities are the ones to apply for funding. UK universities are advised to explore with their Vietnam university partners to leverage on available funding for joint initiatives.
• Assoc Prof Nguyen Thu Thuy, Director General, Higher Education Department, Ministry of Education and Training said in her recent visit to the UK in October 2022 that ‘Research and Innovation is definitely the priority in higher education in Viet Nam… Viet Nam’s government has a number of initiatives to support research and innovation, and we would strongly encourage that UK universities work closely with Vietnamese universities and British Council to maximise the partnership opportunity, one of which is to take advantage of Project 89 (https://www.britishcouncil.vn/en/programmes/education/internationalisati...) in training Vietnamese PhD abroad.’
• British Council has a pool of Vietnamese Early Career Researchers who have been through British Council’s Researcher Connect training programme focusing on communication skills in academic research, and who are willing to work in partnership with overseas peers for research collaboration.