With an overall score 49.01 out of 100, Vietnam fared badly in the against countries such as Singapore (2nd), Malaysia (26th) and Thailand (36th) in the annual Bloomberg Innovation Index.
The ranking measures the world’s 60 most innovative countries based on seven criteria: research and development intensity, productivity, and patent activity, among others.
Vietnam raked highest, 40th, in hi-tech density, 44th in both tertiary education efficiency and patent activity, and 43rd in research and development intensity.
Based on purchasing power parity at 2011 constant prices, Vietnam's labor productivity is at $4,792, lower than that of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
The Republic of Korea returned to first place in this year's ranking, followed by Singapore and Switzerland./.
