Prof. Dang Nguyen Anh (standing), Vice President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, speaks at the meeting on January 7 (Photo: Baochinhphu.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – Experts and scientists were invited to contribute their opinions to draft documents of the upcoming 13th National Party Congress at a meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam on January 7.
The documents put up for discussion were the draft report reviewing the implementation of the 10-year development strategy for 2011-2020, the draft 10-year socio-economic development strategy for 2021-2030, the draft report assessing socio-economic development during 2016-2020 and outlining directions for 2021-2025.
Prof. Dang Nguyen Anh, Vice President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), noted the lack of awareness about the importance of social issues, saying that many localities only laid emphasis on economic development without paying due attention to impacts on the environment and society. Many social problems are only noticed after they already happened and even then they are not addressed in a thorough manner.
“Many countries’ experience show economic development alone cannot solve social issues. Economic gains will not be sustainable if social issues are not properly settled,” the professor said.
Associate Professor Luong Dinh Hai, director of the Institute of Human Studies under the VASS, voiced concern that society is facing the degradation of morality, drastic changes in values and the loss of trust.
“We should change our way of thinking, paying more attention to developing the physical fitness, way of thinking and aesthetic sense of the Vietnamese people,” Hai said.
Vice President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology Prof. Nguyen Dinh Cong said science and technology have not received due attention in accordance with the viewpoint that “science and technology is the top national policy.”
He said the management of budget for science and technology still follows administrative principles and refuses to accept any risks in research. The country also lacks economic incentives in the form of tax or land to encourage enterprises to invest in science and technology.
The professor said he hopes those limitations will be addressed in documents to be submitted to the 13th National Party Congress.
Director of the Vietnam Institute of Science Technology and Innovation (Ministry of Science and Technology) Hoang Minh proposed that the development strategy for 2021-2030 should define the sciences that Vietnam should develop in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, along with key products of the country.
Deputy PM Dam, who is standing member of the sub-committee on economic-social matters of the National Party Congress, affirmed that the sub-committee will carefully study the opinions in order to further refine the draft documents./.
VNA
