The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) on August 8 launched a project to improve the productivity and quality of Vietnamese industrial products through applying appropriate management solutions and renovated scientific technologies.

The project, which is part of a national programme to enhance the quality of made-in-Vietnam products until 2020, will also set up and complete a system which includes 6,000 technical regulations on advanced production processes and management systems to lift the quality and productivity of industrial products up a notch by 2020.

Chairman of the Vietnam Science and Thermal Technology Association Truong Duy Nghia said that Vietnam aims to become an industrial country by 2020 and it will be difficult to manage industrial production without suitable standards.

Therefore, there is a need to work out standards for industrial goods and products as soon as possible. However, he was afraid that it will be difficult to meet the 6,000-standard system target as he estimated it will take roughly two and a half years to be able to complete a standard.

Director of MoIT's Science and Technology Department Nguyen Dinh Hiep said that the project will give priority to textile and garment, footwear, plastic, steel, chemical, mechanical engineering, power, electronic and telecommunications industries.

Hiep said that 40 percent of the country's major industrial product-producing enterprises are expected to join in the project during 2012-15 and all of the country's industrial producers will take part in the project by 2020.

Industrial producers said that they have so far applied science and technology in their production and management, but they still expect the Government to aid them in training, research and building up standard systems.

Chu Van Nguyen from the Vietnam Chemical Group said that the implementation of the project meets the real demands of chemical producers as improvement of productivity and quality is vital for sustainable growth of the producers.

Echoing Nguyen, a representative from the Vietnam Coal Mineral Industries Group also said that the application of science and technology is very important to the mineral mining and processing industries and he expected to have support from the Government for the activities.-VNA