Vietnam needs more skilled workers
The science and
technology sector had made great achievements in the last five years, but it
needed to continue developing the country's professional workforce to meet the
nation's socio-economic development demands, said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen
Thien Nhan on Nov. 10.
Nhan made the
comment at a national conference in Hanoi
to review the development of science and technology from 2001 to 2010 and the
sector's 2010-20 development plan.
He also said that the integration of science and technology in enterprises had been limited and researchers' salaries were still low.
"National
research and technology application centres should focus more on developing
science and technology that can be realistically applied," said Nhan.
In the last five
years, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) has researched and
selected 14 projects that would receive funding and support. The ministry has
also implemented projects to address urgent socio-economic issues, including
programmes to develop genetically engineered crops, research avian influenza A
(H5N1) vaccines, shipbuilding projects, and energy projects.
MoST deputy minister Le Huu Quoc said during the last five years, several projects dealing with digital telecommunications, optical fibre communication, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and third-generation (3G) technology had been successfully implemented in the country.
"Vietnam has
made good use of the VINASAT-1 satellite and is preparing to launch VINASAT-2
in 2012," Quoc added.
In the agricultural
sector, scientists had created 142 new plant breeds, 100 of which were
productive rice breeds.
Quoc also reported
that the highly educated workforce in the science and technology sector had grown
in the last five years. There were more than 1,500 science and technology
organisations in the country, and about 6,000 employees working in the science
and technology sector.
He admitted that
there was a lack of qualified engineers in the country. Many national science
and technology plans had been carried out slowly because of bureaucratic red
tape. The Government's investment in technology was still limited, Quoc said.