On January 19, 2005, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) announced ten notable achievements in its activities for the year 2005. This selection was made by officials within the Ministry based on events proposed by various units.
1. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai Works with MST and Meets Scientists
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Prime Minister Phan Van Khai meets with MST officials (Photo: tchdkh.org.vn) |
This event was referred to by the media and scientific community as the “Dien Hong Conference” of the MST sector. During his meeting with the MST on September 23, 2005, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai praised the significant contributions of science and technology in socio-economic development and reaffirmed the Party’s commitment to prioritizing science and technology alongside education and training as a national policy. On September 24, 2005, the Prime Minister met with nearly 500 science and technology officials representing research institutes, universities, and businesses across various sectors. For the first time, representatives of the scientific community nationwide had the opportunity to directly express their concerns and aspirations to the highest government leader, unified in a common goal: to contribute to the development and revitalization of the nation’s science and technology, helping the country progress and thrive.
2. National Assembly Passes Intellectual Property Law
This law was officially passed by the National Assembly on November 29, 2005, and came into effect on July 1, 2006. Comprising six parts, 18 chapters, and 222 articles, the Intellectual Property Law marked a significant improvement in the unity, comprehensiveness, and completeness of Vietnam’s intellectual property legal system, while also creating a fundamental legal framework to enhance the enforcement of rights—a noted weak point of the current intellectual property protection system. This law serves as a unified specialized law, providing the primary source to regulate intellectual property relations. Its enactment not only meets the demands of integration and addresses existing shortcomings but also promotes creative activities, encourages healthy competition, and develops the technology market.
3. Successful Awarding of the Ho Chi Minh Prize and State Prize for Science and Technology
The Ministry proactively developed and submitted to the Prime Minister a temporary regulation on the conditions, criteria, procedures, and guidelines for awarding these prizes, which serve as a basis for ministries, sectors, and localities to implement. This regulation introduced several new points, with clearer and more specific criteria, emphasizing scientific value and social benefits (for the first time, it included the evaluation of especially innovative technological applications; the criteria for the awards were more specific than before and separately defined for the Ho Chi Minh Prize and State Prize for all three types of projects: scientific research, development research, and innovative technology applications). The award evaluation process was conducted seriously and objectively, adhering to the Prime Minister’s regulations. On September 30, 2005, the MST held a solemn ceremony to award the Ho Chi Minh Prize to 12 projects and the State Prize to 41 projects in science and technology.
4. Government Issues Decree 115/2005/ND-CP on Self-Management Mechanism for Public Scientific and Technological Organizations
This decree paves the way for transforming scientific and technological organizations into self-financing entities and scientific enterprises. The reform spirit of the decree has been highly appreciated by scientists, being compared to a “10-contract” system in science. The decree grants maximum autonomy and accountability to scientific and technological organizations (regarding task execution, finance, assets, organization, and personnel), ensuring alignment between scientists’ interests and societal benefits. Currently, the MST is urgently coordinating to draft guidance documents and submit to the government a decree on scientific and technological enterprises.
5. Successful Organization of the Second National Technology and Equipment Fair in Ho Chi Minh City
In October 2005, the Vietnam Technology and Equipment Fair 2005 was held in Ho Chi Minh City. With a larger scale and higher professionalism than in 2003, the fair surpassed expectations: attracting 475 units with over 2,200 technologies, equipment, and services introduced and offered for sale; 159 official contracts were signed with a total value of up to 1.6 trillion VND, of which 50% were economic contracts totaling over 700 billion VND. The success of this second national technology and equipment fair reaffirmed its role as a dynamic and innovative format contributing to the formation and development of the technology market, promoting a close connection between domestic scientific and technological forces and enterprises, thereby enhancing the technological potential and competitiveness of the national economy in the face of global competition and integration challenges.
6. Approval of the Technology Market Development Project by the Prime Minister
On August 30, 2005, the Technology Market Development Project was approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 214/2005/QD-TTg. This project will have a significant impact on the four components of the technology market: promoting the supply side (research and development sector), encouraging the demand side (business sector), developing intermediaries (brokers, consultants, technology evaluators), and improving the legal environment for the market to operate effectively. Successful implementation of the project will contribute to a rapid increase in both the quantity and quality of technology transactions, aiming for an average growth rate of 10% in technology transaction value from 2006 to 2010.
7. Completion and Submission of the Project on Directions, Goals, and Tasks for Science and Technology Development for 2006-2010 with Many Reform Policies
The reform mindset is clearly reflected in the project, such as: science and technology tasks must stem from the practical needs of socio-economic development; scientific and technological products must be commercialized and ensure socio-economic effectiveness; prioritizing and encouraging science and technology tasks aimed at seeking technological know-how for early transfer to the production and business sectors, thereby forming and developing connections between training, research, and production. Notably, the goals and tasks for science and technology in the upcoming period should align with the main objectives and tasks of the socio-economic development plan for 2006-2010 and the goals set in the science and technology development strategy until 2010.
8. Successful Application of Nuclear Techniques in Industry and International Tender Wins
Scientists from the Dalat Nuclear Research Institute (Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute) have developed a technique for radioactive isotope tracing to monitor the movement of injected water suitable for Vietnam’s mining conditions. This technique has been implemented at the Bach Ho and Rang Dong oil fields, and recently, after outpacing five international contractors from the UK, US, and Norway, scientists from the Dalat Nuclear Research Institute have been selected to apply this technique at the Black Lion oil field. This not only provides the oil and gas industry with technology tailored to the characteristics of Vietnam’s oil fields, yielding economic benefits, but more importantly, it signifies a step forward for our nuclear energy science. Scientists estimate that the application of the radioactive isotope tracing technique brings a benefit of 10 to 15 million USD per oil well. This benefit increases significantly when Vietnamese scientists successfully implement this technique. This further affirms that with the right approach, research results in the field of nuclear applications will be effectively applied in production and daily life.
9. Government Action Program Implementing Directive No. 50-CT/TW Dated March 4, 2005, of the Central Committee of the Communist Party on Promoting the Development and Application of Biotechnology for the Industrialization and Modernization of the Country
This action program was approved by the Prime Minister of Vietnam in Decision 188/2005/QĐ-TTg dated July 22, 2005, aimed at specifying the objectives, tasks, and solutions; institutionalizing the policies outlined in Directive 50-CT/TW into a system of legal normative documents, contributing to the rapid implementation of the Directive in practice. Accordingly, by 2010, Vietnam needs to create, receive, and master mainly biotechnology; strongly deploy the application of these technologies in agriculture, fisheries, healthcare, processing industry, environmental protection, and national defense; produce new products using biotechnology such as plant varieties, livestock, microbial strains, industrial processed products, etc.; and form and develop small and medium-sized biotechnology enterprises. The goal by 2020 is to provide sufficient high-skilled human resources in science and technology, mastering biotechnology; to build and develop advanced and modern biotechnology that meets international standards; and to form and develop a biotechnology industry capable of producing key and essential products for the national economy.
10. Participate in effectively directing avian flu epidemic prevention (inspect and guide localities; successfully manufacture ventilators for district-level healthcare)
In 2005, the Ministry of Science and Technology, along with the Ministries of Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, Industry, Defense, and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, actively implemented technological solutions to help prevent the avian flu epidemic and protect public health in the event of a pandemic. Notably, the Ministry decided to implement several urgent tasks, including the successful manufacturing of 6 out of 10 ventilators (for first aid for patients infected with H5N1) provided to district-level healthcare facilities at a cost of approximately 7.5 million VND per machine, which is 8 to 10 times cheaper than similar imported products.
Additionally, the Minister of Science and Technology and the Ministry’s leaders took turns leading working delegations to localities to directly direct the prevention of the avian flu epidemic in the provinces of Dong Thap, Long An, Tien Giang, Lai Chau, Son La, Hoa Binh, and Dien Bien.
