Minister Nguyen Manh Hung: Vietnam has three driving forces for double-digit growth.

On the morning of January 21st, Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung presented his remarks at the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Several groundbreaking solutions aim to make science , technology, innovation, and digital transformation the central driving force of a new, rapid, and sustainable growth model.

The Minister acknowledged that Vietnam has gone through two stages of development: agriculture helped the country escape poverty; industry, foreign direct investment, and processing and assembly have transformed Vietnam into an upper-middle-income country. According to him, moving into the third stage of development – from middle to high income – Vietnam must rely on the "trio" of science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation.

He analyzed that science and technology create new knowledge and tools, but "they are still up in the air." For knowledge to "reach the ground," innovation is needed to transform knowledge and digital technology into productivity and added value through products and services that serve daily life. Digital transformation helps to quickly spread these products and services throughout society, creating rapid growth and ensuring that no one is left behind.

According to the Minister, while countries entering the third stage of development previously relied solely on science and technology as the driving force, Vietnam has the advantage of three growth drivers. Vietnam aims to increase per capita income from $5,000 to $20,000, and with this "trio," it can achieve double-digit growth.

Bộ trưởng Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng: Việt Nam có bộ ba động lực để tăng trưởng 2 con số - Ảnh 1.

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung presents his paper at the Congress on the morning of January 21. Photo: VNA

The Minister cited Resolution 57 of the Politburo, which identifies science and technology, innovation, and national digital transformation as top priority breakthroughs, driving forces for the rapid development of modern productive forces, the improvement of production relations, the renewal of national governance methods, and the enhancement of the country's self-reliance and independence. Therefore, Resolution 57 can be considered a "Resolution on Contracting 10" regarding science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation.

According to him, the spirit of the Resolution is management by objectives, not by methods; empowering workers with autonomy and responsibility; accepting risks; evaluating based on overall effectiveness; and ensuring workers benefit from the fruits of their labor and creativity. "The 'Contract 10' system helped Vietnam escape poverty, Resolution 57 helped escape the middle-income trap. 'Contract 10' liberated labor power, Resolution 57 liberated creativity," he said, expressing his hope that Vietnam will move from a state of scarcity to one of abundance, eventually becoming a major exporter of science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation, as it has done with agriculture.

Emphasizing that no two countries achieve "dragon or tiger transformation" in the same way, the Minister stated that finding the right approach to create breakthroughs is the decisive factor. Vietnam needs to be self-reliant in core technologies and strategic technologies as an important component of national sovereignty; at the same time, it should allow and encourage the application of new technologies in practice, considering this as a fast and effective way to form, perfect, and develop new technologies.

The spirit of innovation must spread throughout the nation, becoming a way of life for every individual and organization; building a culture that encourages exploration and tolerance of failure. Intellectual property should be considered an asset that can be valued, bought, sold, transferred, and exploited in the market; and at the same time, become a strategic competitive tool for businesses and the nation. A developed country is one where intangible assets, intellectual property, can account for up to 80% of total assets.

Bộ trưởng Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng: Việt Nam có bộ ba động lực để tăng trưởng 2 con số - Ảnh 2.

Delegates attending the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Photo: VNA

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung also emphasized the need to measure the contribution of the "trio" (science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation) to GDP growth. He stated that the Ministry of Science and Technology is developing a measurement methodology for both national and local levels, based on the principle that "what can be measured can be managed," and expects Vietnam to be one of the first countries to set a target for measuring the impact of science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation on GDP growth.

"If every citizen has a virtual assistant, Vietnam's strength will double," he said, emphasizing that digital transformation needs to be done immediately, not gradually, in order to create a "digital version" of the real world and put shared platforms into operation nationwide.

Regarding the implementation of innovation, the Minister stated that the Ministry of Science and Technology is advising the Government to direct each ministry, sector, and locality to establish an innovation center, thereby promoting nationwide entrepreneurship based on technology and innovation.

The Minister emphasized that spending on science and technology should follow the principle that one dollar of state budget must activate 3-4 dollars from businesses. "Then, 2% of state budget spending will become 2% of the total GDP of society spent on science and technology," he said, adding that the Ministry is finalizing a co-financing mechanism between the State and businesses.