Innovation – breakthrough path for Vietnam’s development: experts

Vietnam is accelerating innovation to enter the new era - the era of the nation's rise. (Photo: VNA)

Singapore – As innovation is the key to economic and technological advancements in Singapore, a small country with limited natural resources, experts in the city state believe that it also represents a breakthrough path for Vietnam, which is accelerating toward similar goals in the new era - that of the nation's rise.

Ha Son Tung, senior specialist and deputy head of the Advanced Optical Technologies Department under Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), told the Vietnam News Agency that Singapore's rise from a third-world to a first-world country within a single generation was fueled by strategic innovation, with priority given to developing high-quality human resources, focusing on targeted education that meets labour demands in key development sectors.

Additionally, Singapore attracted smart investments by creating favourable policies and tax incentives for foreign businesses, establishing government research institutes to support product research collaboration, and training high-quality local workforce. The country also actively invested in practical and key scientific research based on its industrial strengths while remaining open to innovative thinking, embracing future technology trends, and staying engaged in global developments, he elaborated.

He highlighted the Singaporean Government’s role in helping businesses and scientists find a common ground and work towards unified goals, laying stress on the Government leadership in the areas of strategy, mechanism and management.

A few years ago, Vietnam introduced flexible experimental mechanisms, known as Sandboxes, in blockchain technology. This contributed to Vietnam's explosion of applications in blockchain and cryptocurrency, exemplified by globally recognised startups like Axie Infinity and Kyber Network. Regarding management, the core principle is to bolster synergy between Vietnam's scientific research community and businesses to create results-oriented projects that deliver economic value, Tung added.

Sharing insights from Singapore's innovation experience, Pham Quang Cuong, former Assoc.Prof at Nanyang Technological University, stated that the crucial factor in building a wealthy nation is the focus on manufacturing. For sustainable development, Vietnam needs to capitalise on its intrinsic strength to develop and own production technologies. He said Singapore has invested systematically in manufacturing, developing five-year development plans for the industry.

Cuong, also CEO and co-founder of Eureka Robotics in Singapore, said Vietnam has taken rapid steps in embracing digitalisation. However, applying AI and automation in manufacturing will take time and cannot be accomplished with shortcuts, requiring patience for strategic development.

While Vietnam’s AI and software development teams are very strong, what the country really needs is a pool of ambitious startups that can build core technologies for manufacturing applications. He stressed that Vietnam should invest more in universities and AI and automation engineering teams, as well as in technology startups.

High-quality human resources will help develop breakthrough products, a strength that Vietnam could rise and compete with global companies, even without abundant capital. Nevertheless, the Government could also explore investment funds for larger projects to stimulate development and gain competitive edge over leading enterprises, he underscored./.