HANOI DEVELOP TO INTO A LEADING CENTER FOR INNOVATION AND CREATION IN THE COUNTRY

Besides being a center for the economy, culture, and education, Hanoi aims to become the country’s leading center for innovation, scientific research, application development, and technology transfer and proceeds to be the innovation center of Southeast Asia in terms of some certain fields, and become a creative city of UNESCO.

Over the years, Hanoi has continuously developed science – technology (S&T).  Since 2016, there have been 346 city-level science and technology tasks implemented (of which there are 212 tasks of science, 84 tasks of social sciences and humanities, 50 experimental production projects) with a total budget of over 633 billion VND. It’s over 85% of the research results after inspections are used in practice application.  Particularly, researched products in the fields of industry, automation, electricity, electronics, and telecommunications have helped to perfect and develop new products’ competitive ability, and expand their markets to replace imported products. Research activities in science and technology have initially formed several machining hubs, which become the nuclear factor for industrial zones, high-technology parks. Also, they can support training and researching the practical application in the industry.  Scientific research activities in the fields of new materials, biotechnology, information technology, high-tech agriculture, also achieved much success and made important contributions to the development.  Now, Hanoi has focused on developing S&T infrastructure, especially high-tech parks, software cities, information technology zones, transaction centers, technology transfer … Up to now, Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park has gradually been formed. This park will be promising to create the ecosystem of a high-tech industrial park with a synchronous-production chain to introduce  Made-in-Vietnam products.

However, there is still a big question is where is the role of Hanoi as a center for science and technology and what position Hanoi will achieve in the next 5 to 10 years.  At the meeting with the Party Affairs Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology recently, Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue said that Hanoi set a target that science, technology, and innovation will have been the main drivers of the socio-economic development of the city by 2025.  Accordingly, there are 10 specific target groups.  Particularly, Hanoi looks to become a high-tech center with the leading potential for scientific research, innovation, and technology transfer application in the country; the city will develop social sciences and humanities research to draw the urban management solutions associated with the characteristics of a cultural, political and educational center where culture and people play an important role in development. Also, the city aims to be the leading city in promoting and supporting enterprises to innovate technology, improve productivity and product quality; and it will continue to take the lead in the enterprises’ investment scale in innovation, technology application, and development.  Besides, Hanoi set the goal that the city’s investment in science, technology, and innovation will have accounted for 70% of the total investment of the city and won’t have been less than 1% of the capital’s GRDP by 2025.

To achieve these above goals,  Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue hopes that the Ministry of Science and Technology and Hanoi city would coordinate in formulating policies suitable to the characteristics of the Capital, as well as testing the pilot policies and new pilot economic models. He expresses his suggestion that the ministry needed to support the city in formulating and implementing the city’s by-2030 strategy for science-technology development and innovation. This strategy will go along with the national by-2030 strategy of science and technology development and innovation.

He also suggested the Ministry of Science and Technology coordinate the city’s authorities in developing the city potential, attracting social resources to invest in science and technology and innovation, as well as facilitating enterprises to use the Science and Technology Development Fund. According to Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue, the city and the ministry will cooperate to focus on bettering the recruiting policies to attract the intellectuals, particularly, the S&T experts, overseas Vietnamese scientists; thereby, they can improve the state management competence in the science-technology area.  Besides, the Ministry of Science and Technology will support the construction of technology incubators in Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park.  The city commits to work with the Ministry and the related Ministries in improving infrastructure, attracting big investors in science and technology to create a breakthrough development for Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park; thereby, Hoa Lac satellite city will gradually be built following right the Government’s planning.

Peviously, when inspecting Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park, Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue asked the Management Board to seize the opportunities and take advantage of the investment of the Central. Now, the strategy has changed. Investors are also their counterparts.  The added value is considered as an important requirement; thereby, Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park can choose the enterprises using high technology, using little land but bringing great economic efficiency.

By Mai Thanh