CEO Luong Viet Quoc: 'Vietnamese people can create globally competitive UAVs'

Resolution 57 is considered a major orientation in encouraging technology and innovation. From the perspective of a UAV inventor, how do you view it?

Dr. Luong Viet Quoc : Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been identified as one of six strategic technology industries and will be prioritized for development in 2025. The Steering Committee for Resolution 57 is also reviewing and summarizing where this industry in Vietnam stands compared to the world , and what steps need to be supplemented and invested in so as not to fall behind.

Recently, I was invited to join the expert group to give advice to the Ministry of Science and Technology , chaired by Deputy Minister Vu Hai Quan. What makes me happy is that the Ministry really listens to the people doing the work. Those who directly research, produce and create are invited to sit at the same table with the management agency to discuss how to develop the industry. That is a very welcome change.

I think if the whole system – from management agencies, businesses to the press and scholars – all speak the truth, speak truthfully and responsibly, the influence will be huge. When the voices of society are all pointing to one point – that to reach world-class level, we must rely on invention, creativity and open institutions – then policies will have the motivation to go faster and deeper.

Vietnam started later and is poorer. What plans do you have for science and technology to break through and reach the top of the world?

If talking about the conditions to reach the national level, technology must have three factors: money - human resources - institutions.

The first is about money. Vietnam currently invests only 0.42% of GDP in R&D, while the target is 2%, which is too small compared to the world. Israel spends more than 6% of GDP, South Korea 5% of GDP, and China 2.68% of GDP. Our money is 3-4 times less, our people are less experienced, and our institutions are less open. So how can we improve? The answer is efficiency.

If we use 2% of GDP for the right purpose, we can create an efficiency equivalent to 6% of the West. Like the Vietnamese bicycles in the Dien Bien Phu campaign – simple, cheap but durable – can carry many times more weight with an efficiency that few people can imagine.

Regarding human resources, although there is a lack of leading experts, Vietnamese engineers learn very quickly. In the US, if you want to recruit a group of technology engineers like me, you may not be able to find them. In Vietnam, I recruited 200 people.

Our advantages are numbers, speed of learning and creativity.

As for institutions, that is the easiest thing to reform. Resolution 66 has identified that spirit: "Turning institutions into competitive advantages". That means from a weak position, we must jump up to the same level. A more open institution will create conditions for innovative businesses to rise up. A very simple example of the UAV institution: businesses inspect power lines, farmers spray pesticides... why do they have to ask for cumbersome permission? Management agencies can refer to the regulations of leading countries to standardize.

Money takes time, people need training, but institutions only need one decision, one right line, to change.

Dr. Luong Viet Quoc and Mr. Bouchillon - US Military Attaché in Vietnam at the 2022 Defense Exhibition. Photo: Provided by the character

When I presented these things to the leaders of the Ministry of Science and Technology, they were very surprised. I had to find a way to explain the image so that they could clearly see the correlation: the same problem, but Vietnamese people using “bike-taxis” still reach the destination, as long as the policy does not restrict it. And in fact, during the process, I realized that it was completely true: if “left alone to do it”, Vietnamese businesses could achieve 80% success.

From my experience, I have drawn a formula: money – human resources – institutions. Of those three factors, institutions are the fastest lever. If we can reform the institutions, we can reach world standards, despite limited resources.

How do you perceive the position of the UAV industry in Vietnam's current science and technology development strategy?

Most countries consider UAVs as a strategic industry because of their dual-use – serving both civilian and defense purposes. A device used for surveying, measuring, photographing, and rescue in peacetime can be used for reconnaissance or combat in wartime when needed. Same technology, same platform, just different purposes.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has clearly demonstrated that. Major countries are racing to develop UAVs. But they have also learned a valuable lesson: relying too much on one country for supplies is a big risk.

When the world needs to diversify its supply chain, it is an opportunity for Vietnam to enter the game. If we have products that meet international standards, we can completely participate in the global supply chain, even become an alternative source of supply.

There are opportunities, but to enter the international market, what is the most important thing, sir?

I always tell the Ministry of Science and Technology that the quality of high-tech products must be aimed at the global market. That means the products must be used by the world, not just for display or domestic use.

To do that, we need inventions, breakthrough designs that meet international standards. If we only rely on domestic protection, we will limit ourselves. When foreign goods are cheaper and better, consumers will choose them. Vietnam has signed 17 FTAs, which means long-term protection is no longer a viable option. The only way is to compete with real quality.

The goal of the UAV industry is not just to “make” but to sell to the world. Only when we can sell in peacetime will we have the ability to be self-sufficient and be able to protect the country with our technology in wartime.

But to achieve that capacity, where should Vietnamese technology businesses start?

The only answer is to innovate. If we just copy and imitate, we will always be behind. Korea and China have both developed their own technical breakthroughs – from batteries, to new materials, to control systems. It is these innovations that create long-term competitive advantage, not manufacturing capabilities.

Only when we have an invention can we protect it with a patent, have its own value and price our products. In the industrial value chain, the big profits are in the design and invention stage, not in the assembly. A company with core technology – no matter how small – can still reach the global level.

From a policy perspective, is Resolution 57 powerful enough to create a generation of Vietnamese inventors, sir?

I think Resolution 57 is on the right track – it gives us the “necessary conditions”, but not the “sufficient conditions”. It defines the path, specifies the goals, but to achieve results, we must invest long-term in people.

A team of engineers, researchers, and inventors is the decisive factor. To have them, we need an entire ecosystem: from education, training, to compensation mechanisms, testing, and risk acceptance. If we only rely on a few short-term programs or movements, we will not be able to create real capacity.

There must be real centers of innovation where engineers are allowed to try – and fail. There must be incentives for failure in research, because only through it can inventions be made. Good policy is not about not making mistakes, but about daring to allow experimentation to create something new.

Your journey to making UAVs also started from zero. What did that experience teach you?

I started almost alone. The first three years were just the “learning” phase: buying components, disassembling and reassembling, taking notes on every detail to understand how it worked. The next three years were the “catching up” phase: being able to make my first product, which was still crude in some ways but also better than the competition.

Mr. Luong Viet Quoc presents Hera to Dutch Army officers at SOFIC in 2022. Photo: Character provided

When I had accumulated enough knowledge, I realized: there are problems that the world has not solved, but Vietnamese people can find their own way to solve them. That was the moment of transition from “learning” to “inventing”. And invention is the highest measure of creativity.

To put it bluntly, it is impossible to “skip the process” in science. It took China more than ten years to make a breakthrough. Since 2010, they have identified 10 strategic industries, including UAVs, electric vehicles, AI and new materials. At that time, Tesla had a virtual monopoly on electric vehicles, but China still decided to do it. And they did it. They invested long-term, chose the right people, the right job, the right direction – and that was success.

I believe the Vietnamese can do it too. We have intelligence, the ability to learn quickly and a strong will. As long as we have good enough policies and are “left alone to do it”, we will create real miracles.

But the technology environment in Vietnam still has many barriers, right?

That’s right. In the US, if I need to import a new component for research, it only takes me a few hours. In Vietnam, it takes me a week, even several weeks…

But the reason I still choose to work in Vietnam is the people. Vietnamese engineers are good, creative and very hard-working. If a company in the US has 80 skilled engineers, it costs at least 3-5 million USD/month for salaries, while in Vietnam, the same number of people would cost about several billion VND. We rent a small workshop in an alley, no separate meeting room, sit on plastic chairs, and spend all the money on R&D. Thanks to that, the efficiency is many times higher.

If I worked in the US, my company would have to spend 300 million USD instead of 15 million USD as it is now. In fact, Vietnamese people create “optimal” productivity dozens of times more, thanks only to thrift, resourcefulness and creative desire.

For scientific enterprises, in your opinion, is money or institutions more important?

At the corporate level, lack of money is always a constant difficulty, but it can still be managed. At the national level, institutions are the decisive factor.

If the institutions are open, investors and private funds will come to them. Good institutions also determine the effectiveness of the budget. With the same level of investment of 2% of GDP in R&D, if the mechanism is transparent and the right people are selected for the right job, the effectiveness can be equivalent to 6-8%. On the contrary, if the mechanism is stagnant, that 2% may only be worth 1%.

Institutions are the things that can change the fastest. Just one right decision can change the whole system. And that is the spirit of Resolution 66: “Turning institutions into national competitive advantages”.

So what is the institution for Vietnamese UAVs, sir?

Look at the world. In the US, UAVs are allowed to fly within 5 miles of an airport, within 125 meters and outside residential areas without permission. A country that values safety as its top priority, the US still leaves such room for innovation because they understand that over-regulation kills innovation.

For Vietnam, just changing small points – loosening up a little for businesses to experiment, creating a sandbox mechanism – has opened a big door. The easiest way to develop new technology is to remove unnecessary procedures.

The recent floods in the northern provinces are an example. When UAVs were deployed to support rescue efforts, the recording and data transmission helped rescue forces identify flooded areas and trapped people very quickly. As long as the institutions allow for more flexible use, UAVs will not only be a technological product but also a tool to serve the community.

Many people are concerned that if the government invests money in the wrong places, the R&D support policy may be lost. Which direction do you think should be chosen to be effective?

I think there are two ways.

One is based on inputs, i.e. quantitative indicators: number of R&D engineers, research expenditure, number of registered patents, etc. This method helps identify enterprises with serious investment, and is suitable for Vietnam in the early stages - when R&D expenditure is only about 0.42% of GDP.

Second, based on output, i.e. market standards. Whoever makes UAVs or strategic technologies and sells them to the US, Europe, and Japan – the most demanding markets – is considered to have had their capabilities confirmed by a “global judge”. Give them strong support. As for businesses that are just “in the village” and whose products do not meet standards, give less support. The world market is the fairest measure.

Can you share more about the UAV factory project that Real-time Robotics is building?

We are developing a UAV manufacturing plant in the Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park, covering an area of over 9,000 m². This will be a place to both manufacture and test new UAV lines, both civil and dual-purpose. I believe that in just three years, Real-time Robotics will be among the most innovative UAV companies in the world outside of China, especially in the US and European markets.

If the policy is in the right direction – choosing the right people, the right money, the right institutions – Vietnam can absolutely create a new technological miracle. Not only catching up with the world, but also creating a new industry where Vietnamese intelligence is affirmed.

Which of your inventions are you most proud of?

In the world, people make gimbals - anti-shake devices when filming - that usually only rotate horizontally, when rotating vertically they are limited because of the rotating joint structure.

I was inspired by the gecko’s eye – which can rotate 360 degrees – to design a camera system that has twice the field of view of the world. It can rotate up to the sky, look vertically, and scan the whole scene, and is especially useful in rescue operations. While international equipment takes 60 minutes to scan an area, our product only takes 30 minutes.

Three weeks ago, I introduced this system to a group of young engineers who had just graduated from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. They worked with big companies like General Atomics and Tomahawk Robotics (USA). When they saw our invention, they were really surprised. I told them: “We did this with only 15 million USD, while many companies in the US spent up to 700 million USD without creating a similar breakthrough.”

Vietnamese people are resourceful, thrifty, and most importantly, not afraid of hardship. When every penny is invested in creativity, efficiency will naturally appear.

Can you share more about the UAV factory project that Real-time Robotics is building and how you envision this product in a few years?

Dr. Luong Viet Quoc is an engineer and PhD graduate in the US, who has worked for many years in the field of robotics and automation in Silicon Valley. Instead of staying in a modern and high-income research environment, he chose the opposite path – returning to Vietnam to start a business in the high-tech field.

He founded Real-time Robotics Joint Stock Company (RtR) with the goal of manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with the Vietnamese brand, serving both civilian and dual-purpose purposes. Under his leadership, RtR became the first Vietnamese enterprise to export UAVs to the US and sell them to the US military, and is currently building an international-scale UAV manufacturing plant in the Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park – a pioneering step for the Vietnamese robotics industry.

Starting out as a young engineer with a passion for invention, Dr. Luong Viet Quoc is considered the pioneer of the “made in Vietnam” UAV industry. From the first hand-drawn drawings to products with patents registered in the US, he has demonstrated the creativity of Vietnamese people in the core technology field. Under his leadership, Real-time Robotics does not stop at producing UAVs, but is aiming to become a global technology company, where Vietnamese intelligence can compete equally with the world.

Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/ceo-luong-viet-quoc-nguoi-viet-co-the-tao-ra-uav-canh-tranh-toan-cau-2456883.html