Consider establishing a national venture capital fund

(NLDO) - Delegate Tran Hoang Ngan said he does not support the establishment of a national venture capital fund, because venture investment is risky and must be cautious.

On the afternoon of May 6, discussing in groups about the draft Law on Science , Technology and Innovation, delegates of the Ho Chi Minh City National Assembly Delegation proposed that many contents in the draft should be specific and avoid administrative issues.

Delegate Ha Phuoc Thang commented on the draft law on the afternoon of May 6.

Commenting on the draft Law on Science, Technology and Innovation, delegate Ha Phuoc Thang suggested adding to Article 3 of the draft the need to explain what is meant by "scientific ethics council", "technology, innovation", "code of ethics for science, technology and innovation".

Delegates also proposed to supplement regulations on high-tech training programs, cooperation programs between universities, research institutes and technology enterprises to create human resources that meet practical needs, create conditions for students and young scientists to participate in innovation projects right from their studies; regulate the organization of pilot high-tech education models in some localities in big cities.

Delegate Tran Kim Yen contributes comments. Photo: Van Duan

Meanwhile, according to delegate Tran Kim Yen, the promulgation of this law will create a solid legal foundation, bring the Party's policies into life, promote the digital technology industry to become a driving force for the country's economic growth. However, the draft law still overlaps with some provisions of other laws such as the Data Law and the Personal Data Protection Decree, the High Technology Law, the Civil Code, etc.

According to delegate Yen, the draft law needs to classify digital assets for more appropriate management. Specifically, the draft law needs to add the phrase "special or replaceable" after the phrase "expressed in digital data form".

Delegate Tran Hoang Ngan assessed that this is a difficult law, because innovation is changing. Therefore, the draft's provisions have many contributions from departments, branches and localities.

Mr. Ngan assessed that this is a very urgent law that needs to be passed soon because it has both political, legal and practical bases for implementation. Especially the political basis, since the 13th National Party Congress identified "the important role, position and contribution of science and technology, innovation, digital transformation" and most recently Resolution 57 of the Politburo.

Delegate Tran Hoang Ngan speaks. Photo: Van Duan

According to Delegate Tran Hoang Ngan, in addition to being a locomotive in economic development, Ho Chi Minh City is also ranked as the leading city in the country and the region (ranked 3rd). Compared to the 2013 Law on Science and Technology, there are still many shortcomings, including the lack of full regulations on mechanisms to attract and train high-quality human resources, as well as mechanisms to attract talents for science and technology activities (except for some specific Resolutions in some localities).

In Clause 5, Article 4, there is the phrase "focusing on shifting basic research activities to higher education institutions", if it stops here, it does not cover all research institutions. Therefore, it is necessary to add "research institutes, academies".

There needs to be detailed regulation on risk acceptance in scientific research.

In Article 9, regarding risk acceptance in scientific research and innovation, delegate Ngan said this is a new provision, concretizing the Party's policy, encouraging the spirit of innovation. However, there is still a need for detailed regulations to avoid abusing the risk acceptance regulation leading to budget loss; at the same time, enhancing the role of the council, especially the council for evaluation, acceptance, and topic selection, to protect public assets.

Commenting further on Article 38 regarding national and local venture capital funds, Mr. Ngan said he did not support this because venture investment is risky, and with risk, there must be caution, and human resources must be selected to decide whether to invest or not.

"If we establish a national and local venture capital fund and assign it to a non-specialized department, the risk will certainly be high. Therefore, we suggest that instead of establishing a fund, we should create a mechanism for private venture capital funds to operate," said Deputy Ngan.

He also cited that there are currently about 10 venture capital funds operating, these funds have real strength, when investing in a business, the fund is willing to share not only capital, but also experience in management, supporting more successful startup projects. This needs to be considered in the draft.

Delegate Pham Khanh Phong Lan speaks. Photo: Van Duan

Meanwhile, delegate Pham Khanh Phong Lan agreed that the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation should be promulgated soon. However, looking at the whole draft law, the delegate assessed that "it is said that the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation is innovative, but it is not very innovative" because he saw that the draft law still has the tendency of a resolution, is a bit administrative, focusing on putting scientists "in the clouds, being scientific like this, like that" but what is the specific problem?

Source: https://nld.com.vn/can-can-nhac-lap-quy-dau-tu-mao-hiem-quoc-gia-196250506182900259.htm