A boost for strategic technological development.

The draft Decree detailing and implementing certain provisions of the High-Tech Law has added a series of new policies specifically for strategic technologies. This is considered a significant step forward, reflecting a shift from a "business support" mindset to an "ecosystem building" mindset, providing a boost for the development of strategic technologies.

Lack of policy mechanisms to promote strategic technologies.

Over the years, Vietnam has enacted numerous preferential policies for high-tech enterprises, high-tech zones, and research and development (R&D) activities. However, as the country enters a phase of competition based on core and strategic technologies, the current policy system reveals many limitations. Preferential policies are fragmented and lack a systematic approach. Policies on investment, taxation, land, scientific research, public procurement, and intellectual property are regulated in many different documents, making it difficult for businesses to access them and failing to create a comprehensive support mechanism throughout the entire technology development lifecycle.

According to Decision No. 21/2026/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister , Vietnam has 10 strategic technology groups and 30 strategic technology products. (Illustration: Chinhphu.vn)

Significantly, policies primarily focus on the research phase, while higher-risk stages such as testing, verification, standardization, commercialization, and scaling up production lack adequate support mechanisms. This is the "bottleneck" that prevents many research results from being transformed into commercial products.

Furthermore, in the past, we lacked sufficiently attractive mechanisms to attract leading experts, chief engineers, and outstanding scientists to participate in strategic technology projects. In the context of increasingly fierce global competition for technology talent, this is a policy gap that needs to be addressed promptly. Only then can we attract high-quality human resources to participate in the implementation of strategic technology projects.

Strategic technology is a highly specialized field, requiring businesses investing in it to make significant investments, including land costs, construction of laboratories, research centers, and testing systems. While many countries have implemented superior incentive policies to attract investment in strategic sectors such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and new materials, Vietnam's current policies have not yet created a sufficiently strong competitive advantage to attract businesses to invest in strategic technology.

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Breakthrough policies for strategic technology

Given the increasingly fierce competition in technology, especially core technologies, we need mechanisms and policies that prioritize strategic technologies. A notable feature of the draft decree is its approach based on the value chain, rather than supporting individual stages separately. The policies are designed to cover everything from human resources, research, intellectual property, infrastructure, investment capital, to product commercialization.

Notably, for the first time, the draft regulations fully outline mechanisms for attracting and utilizing high-tech human resources, including criteria for identifying high-tech personnel, standards for chief engineers, experts, and outstanding scientists, along with corresponding incentive policies. This is a crucial condition for forming strong research groups and large-scale technology development programs.

The draft decree has added a policy to support the costs of inspection, testing, certification of standards and technical regulations, and domestic and international assessment for strategic technology products. The specific support level will be decided by the competent authority based on the content of the support, legitimate costs, commercialization potential, feasibility of use, and the ability to balance the state budget. The development, appraisal, and publication of national standards and national technical regulations for strategic technologies and strategic technology products will follow simplified procedures as prescribed by the law on standards and technical regulations.

The draft decree also adds a provision allowing the application of a simplified direct contracting method for bidding packages of national key research, testing, and shared laboratory investment projects serving the development of strategic technologies; and adds regulations on the mechanism for expenditure and management of funds according to evaluation milestones for the implementation of strategic technology tasks.

Furthermore, the draft decree also proposes adding incentives such as exemption from land rent for the entire lease period for Strategic Technology Research and Development Centers, High-Tech Research and Development Centers, and strategic technology enterprises. Simultaneously, the draft decree also adds preferential policies for investment projects in the construction and operation of infrastructure in high-tech zones: complete exemption from land rent for the entire lease term for land leased to high-tech and strategic technology investment projects; exemption from land rent for 15 years and a 50% reduction in land rent for the remaining period for the remaining land area, provided that the infrastructure investor does not include the exempted or reduced land rent in the sublease price.

Specifically, for the commercialization phase, the draft for the first time introduces a support mechanism using financial support vouchers, and stipulates that state agencies, public service units, and state-owned enterprises prioritize using budget funds to purchase strategic technology products and services through a procurement mechanism. This helps to form an initial market for new technology products – a factor that many technology startups currently need. This is considered a crucial initial foundation for businesses to be more confident in providing strategic technology services.

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It is evident that many policies are not simply financial incentives but also address institutional barriers, ranging from intellectual property procedures and mechanisms for managing science and technology tasks to developing research infrastructure and mechanisms for creating markets for new technology products. This represents a shift from a mindset of "supporting businesses" to "creating an ecosystem," in which the State plays a role in establishing a favorable environment for business development.

The policies added to the draft decree not only aim to address immediate difficulties but also to build an internationally competitive investment environment for strategic technology sectors. If enacted and implemented comprehensively, these new policies will create a significant impetus for research, development, and commercialization of strategic technologies, contributing to the realization of the goal of building technological self-reliance, enhancing national competitiveness, and creating a foundation for Vietnam to participate more deeply in global technology value chains in the new development phase.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/cu-huych-cho-cong-nghe-chien-luoc-phat-trien-10421744.html