Innovating the development model: Finding solutions from the pressures of implementation.

Reforming the development model is a prerequisite for Vietnam to overcome old ways of thinking and old development limitations, create new momentum, and enhance its strategic autonomy...

Few topics have recently attracted as widespread attention as the story of reforming the country's development model. Photo: TG

The goal of development is not just about GDP size.

Over 100 papers from managers, experts, businesses, and international organizations were submitted to the National Scientific Conference “Innovating the National Development Model Based on Science, Technology, Innovation, and Digital Transformation.” In his opening remarks, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Nghi, Head of the Central Policy and Strategy Committee, emphasized that the large number of papers not only demonstrates the importance of the topic but also reflects the concerns and responsibilities for the future development of the country.

This concern is not accidental. After 40 years of Doi Moi (Renovation), Vietnam has gradually shaped a development model with its own unique identity, centered on people, and aiming for inclusive and sustainable development. Vietnam has risen to become a large-scale economy in the region, and the lives of its people and the nation's standing have been enhanced.

However, these very achievements are creating a need to seek a new development model. For many years, Vietnam's economic growth has been primarily based on investment capital, low-skilled labor, and resource exploitation. This model produced significant results in the early stages of development, but is now revealing increasingly clear limitations.

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Nghi emphasized the current situation where productivity, quality, and competitiveness are not yet high; the capacity for innovation and technological mastery is still limited. In addition, national governance, social governance, inter-sectoral coordination capacity, and data-driven governance have not kept pace with the requirements of digital development and the digital economy...

Not only Vietnam, but all countries around the world place great emphasis on establishing a development model.

- Professor Nguyen Xuan Thang, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council.

Meanwhile, next-generation digital technologies are fundamentally changing the way countries produce, manage, and compete. Science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation are no longer just drivers of economic growth, but are becoming the foundation of national competitiveness, strategic autonomy, and the ability to adapt to global changes.

Therefore, according to Professor Nguyen Xuan Thang, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, establishing a new growth model only answers questions such as how the economy grows, what resources it relies on, and what driving forces it relies on. Many bigger questions remain, such as what the growth is for, who benefits from it, and what values ​​guide it...

“The ultimate goal of development is not just GDP size, growth rate, or labor productivity, but also the quality of life, happiness level, and opportunities for development of the people. Therefore, not only Vietnam, but all countries in the world pay great attention to establishing a development model,” Professor Nguyen Xuan Thang stated.

Pressure to surpass old development limits

In Professor Nguyen Xuan Thang's approach, the growth model, development model, and social model chosen by Vietnam are concentric circles. Therefore, reforming the development model is not just about reforming the economic growth model, but about reforming the overall development thinking, leadership methods, national governance, social organization, and the way resources are mobilized and allocated.

"Reforming the development model is a prerequisite for Vietnam to overcome old ways of thinking and old development limitations, create new momentum, and enhance strategic autonomy, confidence, and self-reliance in a volatile world with many unpredictable changes," Mr. Thang emphasized.

However, this is a very difficult problem when considering the issues that many experts and managers are addressing. For example, how can science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation truly become the driving force for development in each industry, locality, enterprise, and government agency? Or how can strategic directions translate into substantive change, from allocating resources to new growth drivers to building institutions that are open enough for innovation while still controlling risks...?

Professor Hoang Van Cuong, Vice President of the Vietnam Economic Science Association, even raised the issue from a more direct perspective.

"The biggest challenge in reforming the development and growth model in Vietnam probably doesn't lie in identifying new development requirements, nor in finding consensus in understanding, but in the ability to abandon old ways of thinking, mechanisms, and management habits to move towards a new mindset, a new management method, and a new impetus for development," Mr. Cuong expressed his view.

Taking national governance as an example, Mr. Cuong emphasized two key areas for focus: organizational reform and the allocation of state power. Along with streamlining the apparatus and increasing decentralization and delegation of power, it is necessary to build effective mechanisms for controlling power to both mitigate risks and ensure dynamism and creativity.

The mindset of state management needs to shift from process control to governance based on objectives and actual results. Along with this, national governance must be based on digital data to predict, manage, and address emerging issues flexibly, rather than rigidly.

"We often talk about the right policies and the right direction, but implementation remains the issue. The key to success is action," Mr. Cuong stated frankly.

Acting when the system is not yet perfect...

How to make the new development model work in practice and create new development opportunities is not only a concern for experts and managers.

A day before the aforementioned workshop, the Central Policy and Strategy Committee worked with over 100 businesses, entrepreneurs, and business associations to consult on the Draft Plan for Renewing the National Development Model Based on Science, Technology, Innovation, and Digital Transformation, which the Committee is finalizing to submit to the Politburo.

Many practical issues were raised, ranging from credit policies and industry development strategies to the role of leading enterprises and the position of small and medium-sized enterprises. In particular, the opportunities presented by development models based on science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation were of great interest to the business community.

The reason is that Vietnamese businesses are willing to invest in accessing new technologies, but the financial capacity of most businesses is limited. The solution, according to Mr. Mai Huu Tin, Chairman of U&I Group and Permanent Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association, is government support through a "national investment fund for science and technology." Many countries have used national investment funds as a tool to access and develop strategic technologies. "This is a leading source of capital at the national level, exceeding the self-investment capacity of most individual businesses," Mr. Tin emphasized.

But the challenges businesses face are not limited to resources. Many businesses believe that the biggest obstacle lies in the speed at which institutions adapt.

In an era of rapidly changing technology, the greatest risk is not making mistakes, but delays. New technologies such as AI, big data, robotics, autonomous vehicles, digital assets, and cloud computing need to be tested within a flexible and sufficiently broad legal environment to encourage innovation.

Therefore, according to Mr. Dang Thanh Tam, Chairman of Kinh Bac Urban Development Corporation, Vietnam needs to shift from the mindset of "no regulations, no action" to the mindset of "allowing controlled pilot projects to create new regulations."

The history of global technological development shows that no country has ever risen to the top by waiting for everything to be perfect before acting. Therefore, Mr. Tam believes that businesses need to be empowered to experiment with new things within a supervised environment, instead of spending years waiting for a complete legal framework.

These transitions are not easy, but both experts and businesses believe that without them, the system will remain stuck in the "current model," unable to establish a new development model.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/doi-moi-mo-hinh-phat-trien-tim-loi-giai-tu-ap-luc-thuc-thi-d606230.html