President and CEO Ted Osius (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Science and TechnologyBui The Duy held a working session in Hanoi on March 23 with a business delegation of the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) led by the council's President and CEOTed Osius who are on a working visit to Vietnam from March21-23.
Duy said the Vietnamese Party and State consider sci-tech andinnovation one of strategic breakthroughs and a driving force of growth paceand quality, turning Vietnam into a modern industrialised nation by 2030 and ahigh-income and developed country by 2045.
In May and June last year, the VietnameseGovernment and National Assembly passed a strategy on science, technology andinnovation development till 2030 and the Law on amendments and supplements toseveral articles of the Intellectual Property Law. These documents will open upincreasingly favourable policy and legal corridors to promote the strongdevelopment of innovation ecosystem and intellectual property ownership inVietnam, contributing to creating a healthy business environment and delivery ofcommitments in trade agreements and international conventions to which Vietnamis a member, he said.
He added that the gap in science andtechnology between Vietnam and other countries in the region has significantlynarrowed as Vietnam has made considerable progress in globalcompetitiveness, innovation rankings and several of its strong science fields.
Since the signing of the Vietnam-US frameworkagreement on science and technology cooperation in 2000, their coordination insci-tech and innovation has been launched in many areas within bilateral and US-ASEANmultilateral frameworks, he said.
Osius, for his part, pledged to continueassisting Vietnam in stepping up cooperation activities in science, technologyand innovation within bilateral and US-ASEAN multilateral frameworks.
Representatives of the delegation shared issues related to sci-tech invarious fields, including health care, transportation and informationtechnology. They believed that in order to boost Vietnam’s exports to theworld, it is necessary to develop deeper partnerships with the Vietnamese Government'slaboratories such as QUACERT, QUATEST 1, 2, 3, and improve Vietnam'stesting and certification capabilities.
The USABC promised to step up bilateral partnerships and believed that withmutual support, national laboratories can serve the globalmarket and thereby turn Vietnam into an export hub in ASEAN.
They also wished to fortify cooperation withthe Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology in fields of shared interestand strength./.
