Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam at the working session

He said there are many things that need to be done to turn science-technology into the driver and a source of power of the economy, but the first task is to digitalise and use information technology to enable connectivity in management. Obstacles in financial mechanism should also be removed, the Deputy PM added.

Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat affirmed that the ministry will continue to work with relevant agencies to build specific mechanisms for developing science-technology.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Xuan Dinh reported at the meeting that science and technology has contributed greatly to national development, as seen in the growing contribution of the total factor productivity (TFP) to national economic growth, from an average 33.6 percent in the 2011-2015 period to 45.2 percent in the 2016-2020. The country’s Global Innovation Index (GII) was ranked 42nd among 131 countries and territories, third in ASEAN and topped the group of nations with the same level of income.

The country has begun to form an innovative startup ecology with around 3,000 innovative startups, which attracted approximately 1 billion USD of investment in the past two consecutive years.

Investment in science-technology now comes from both the State budget (52 percent) and businesses (48 percent) instead of relying entirely on the State like 10 years ago./.

BTA