Hanoi (VNA) – As science, technology and innovation emerge as key drivers of development, Vietnam is stepping up efforts to tap the expertise of the overseas Vietnamese (OV) community, particularly experts and intellectuals in strategic technology fields.
Politburo Resolution No. 23-NQ/TW marks a shift from community outreach to mechanism building, thereby gradually establishing networks that connect Vietnamese intellectuals with the country's development priorities.
A formal role for experts
The Ministry of Science and Technology has named the National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) as the focal point to gather research problems and match them with experts under national sci-tech schemes, said NAFOSTED Deputy Director Nguyen Phu Binh. Building on its existing AI network, NAFOSTED will build a system to track those problems alongside a database of Vietnamese scientists abroad, he said.
According to Binh, strategic technology development should start with real-world problems, not academic questions about what to study. Ministries, agencies and localities need to flag capacity gaps first, so researchers can be matched to close them, an approach he called "reverse thinking".
From there, tasks move through research, testing and application toward products that can compete commercially, not just papers or prototypes. The goal is products that can hold their own in the domestic market before expanding abroad.
Experts are central to that process. With 10 strategic technology groups and 30 target products already identified, the next step is breaking those challenges into specific, assignable R&D tasks.
To do this, experts will act as "chief architects", helping the science ministry and local authorities translate broad technology challenges into concrete problems and stitch together technology clusters and chains, he said.
For expert networks to move beyond simple connections into real problem-solving, he said Vietnam needs better mechanisms to deploy them, including formal roles for core experts and framework contracts that keep them engaged on an ongoing basis rather than case by case.
He also proposed financial incentives, including higher pay for scientists, to retain talent at home and abroad.
Attracting talent will also require addressing intellectual property, confidentiality and conflicts of interest. An expert platform and database of key problems will help match the right people to the right tasks, he added.
Matching problems to people
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Dung, Chief of the Office of the National Data Association and Standing Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Data Expert Network (VDEN), said a network's goals need to be ambitious enough to draw experts in. Selection should favour quality over quantity, and the community should run on voluntary involvement rather than heavy bureaucracy.
She said trust is especially critical to getting experts to return to Vietnam and stay engaged long-term. Their work needs to be tied to concrete challenges where they can actually put their expertise to use.
In her view, the coordination team is what determines whether a network survives. Coordinators need real scientific expertise and professionalism, not just administrative instructions, fixed terms or event-driven mandates.
She therefore suggested linking expert networks through a "network of networks" so they share information instead of operating in silos, alongside a database of OV experts organised by sector and need. That database will match supply with demand by cataloging the real problems facing localities, industries and businesses.
Mechanisms should let experts contribute to policy reviews, research, training and technology transfer, particularly in tech fields. Given the right problems, experts can put that expertise to work, she said.
Building a connectivity platform
The resolution assigns specific tasks to individual ministries, agencies and localities, with heavy emphasis on giving OV the space and conditions to join the country's development push, said Deputy Foreign Minister Le Thi Thu Hang.
The real test is whether Vietnam can fully tap that community's brainpower and technological potential, she added.
OV number about 6.5 million across more than 130 countries and territories, including roughly 650,000 with university degrees or higher. Nearly 2,000 of them belong to expert and intellectual networks that have formed in recent years, including five innovation networks spanning artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technology, cybersecurity, and aviation and aerospace, which also link around 50 associations of experts across different countries.
That potential, however, remains underused, with the space and conditions for real contribution still lacking.
Meetings between Vietnamese leaders and the OV community, including experts and intellectuals, consistently surface the same message: they want to contribute. Pay is only one factor, many said. What they want more is an environment that lets them do more, from a healthy workplace and fair competition to real authority and decision-making power.
Hang said the ministry is studying a platform to connect overseas experts with domestic needs. A database of OVs is already being built; the platform's name, structure and operating model are still being worked out, she said./.
