Deputy Secretary of Central Agencies Bloc Party Committee Truong Xuan Cu at the congress

He also asked the Party Committee to strengthen inspection supervision and renew activities of party committees, contributing to building and developing the Ministry of Science and Technology Party Committee to be increasingly strong and comprehensive.

The 23^rd Ministry of Science and Technology Party Congress, term 2020-2025, took place in Hanoi.

Over the past five years, science and technology has made important and comprehensive contribution to socio-economic development. The quality of growth has been improved. Labor productivity has been significantly improved. The TFP increased from 33.6% in the 2011-2015 period to 44.46% in the 2016-2019 period. The proportion of export value high-tech products in the total export value is 50%. Vietnam's innovation index has continuously increased: in 2017 increased by 12 places, 2018 increased by 2 places, 2019 increased by 3 places, to rank 42^nd out of 129 countries, bringing Vietnam to the top of the group of 26 low-middle income countries and ranked third in ASEAN.

Speaking at the congress, Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh affirmed that the entire Party Committee has made efforts to fulfill the political tasks well and achieved many results on the working aspects of the sector. Innovation becomes a new mindset in the management and operation of the economy, society and businesses in Vietnam.

The Minister also said that Vietnam's innovation capacity has improved dramatically on the world rankings. The number of international patents and publications of Vietnam has been increasing every year. Investment from private and business sectors accounts for an increasing proportion in the total social investment in science and technology. Science and Technology enterprises, high-tech businesses and innovative startups have gradually become a new growth force. The key technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution are applied more deeply in the value chains of agricultural production, industry and services.

At the congress, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Agencies Truong Xuan Cu appreciated the outstanding achievements of the Party Committee over the past term.

In the context of international integration in all fields, the domestic and international socio-economic situation has seen many changes. Mr. Cu asked the Party Committee to promote the role of party organization; to closely coordinate with the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and a number of other units to carry out projects, pilot research models and projects; and continue researching and building scientific programs for regions, in which their specific characteristics must be taken into account towards sustainable development.

In the spirit of high consensus, the Congress elected the Executive Board of the Ministry of Science and Technology Party Committee for the term 2020-2025, including 25 comrades. Comrade Le Xuan Dinh was introduced as the Secretary of the Party Committee for the new term; and the delegation to attend the 13^th Central Agencies Bloc Party Committee Congress was elected, including six comrades./.

Compiled by BTA