International cooperation: Key to promoting science, technology and innovation in Hai Phong

With the aspiration to become the center of science and technology (S&T) of the Northern key economic region, Hai Phong is promoting international cooperation, expanding knowledge connections and technology transfer with the world's leading organizations and research institutes. The proactive, methodical and drastic steps in 2025 show that the city is entering an acceleration phase, creating an important premise to innovate the growth model, improve labor productivity and contribute more strongly to the overall development of the country.

Connecting technology supply and demand with Korean enterprises organized by the Department of Science and Technology.

Recently, the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the City People's Committee and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) is considered a major milestone in Hai Phong 's journey of science and technology integration. KIST is one of the leading research institutes in Asia, the birthplace of many core technologies that helped Korea become a modern industrial nation. The signing of a cooperation agreement with KIST not only opens up opportunities to access advanced knowledge and technology but also has profound significance in the city's long-term development strategy.

According to the signed content, the “KIST – HaiPhong Tech Hub” Technology Center will be formed as a place to research – transfer – incubate new technologies, and at the same time train a team of experts and technology engineers to serve the city’s industrial development. This is a strategic project, in line with the orientation of making Hai Phong a center of innovation and high-tech industry in the region.

Secretary of the City Party Committee Le Tien Chau affirmed that cooperation with KIST will help Hai Phong quickly access core technology, knowledge management models and international experiences in developing high-tech industries, an important foundation for many economies to make breakthroughs. In the context of the world being fiercely competitive in the fields of green technology, smart logistics, and AI, the city needs the support of major research institutes to increase its ability to master technology and improve growth quality.

Not only stopping at bilateral cooperation with KIST, the city is also actively expanding connections with leading technology centers in the region. At the end of October 2025, the delegation of the Department of Science and Technology participated in the Singapore Innovation and Technology Week (SWITCH 2025), Asia's largest event on innovation and venture capital. Here, the delegation participated in many discussion sessions and in-depth workshops on data centers, smart cities, AI, urban technology governance, high-tech startups, etc. and worked directly with partners such as Enterprise Singapore, PIER71 of the National University of Singapore, QUEST Ventures Fund. These approaches bring a lot of practical experience in building an innovation ecosystem, especially the startup incubation model, venture capital mechanism and solutions to connect the global technology value chain.

According to the delegation's assessment, Singapore is one of the typical models in data management, startup development, and AI application in urban operations. Therefore, the experiences gained from SWITCH 2025 will help Hai Phong advise the City People's Committee more effectively in implementing local venture capital funds, supporting businesses in technological innovation, and attracting high-tech talent.

To enhance the technological competitiveness of local enterprises, the Department of Science and Technology of Hai Phong has organized 26 technology supply-demand connection sessions since the beginning of 2025, and signed 6 cooperation memoranda with partners from Korea, Japan, Singapore, Belgium, Taiwan, etc. The 1:1 connection sessions between domestic and foreign enterprises have helped the parties to discuss in depth about technology needs, transfer conditions, cooperation roadmap and long-term investment capabilities.

Many local businesses appreciate that technology networking helps them save costs, shorten the time to find suitable partners and access many new technologies in the fields of automation, industrial robots, clean energy, water treatment, biotechnology, smart manufacturing, etc. These fields all aim at the common goal of improving productivity, quality and reducing emissions - in line with the city's green growth orientation.

However, the reality shows that the number of technology transfer contracts signed after each connection session is still not much; many small and medium enterprises are still limited in investment capital, technology human resources and the ability to absorb new technology. In addition, the cost of transferring advanced technologies is still a barrier for many traditional manufacturing enterprises. Some fields still lack financial support mechanisms and technical guidance after transfer. These are issues that need to be further resolved in the coming time.

Delegation of the Department of Science and Technology participated in the Singapore Innovation and Technology Week - SWITCH 2025.

Along with expanding international cooperation, Hai Phong focuses on training high-tech human resources. The city has signed a cooperation agreement to train 1,000 - 2,000 microchip engineers and 3,000 - 5,000 technical workers in the period of 2024 - 2027 with Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park and SunEdu Company. Many cooperation programs with FPT, domestic and international universities continue to be expanded, helping to form a high-quality workforce in key areas such as semiconductors, AI, mechatronics, automation and marine technology. In addition to specialized training, the city also encourages businesses to send technical staff to participate in short-term training courses on new technologies in Japan, Korea, Singapore, etc.

Hai Phong also actively promotes international cooperation in the field of sustainable development, including green energy conversion, smart cities, carbon emission reduction, high-tech waste treatment and green logistics. These cooperation activities are in line with Vietnam’s green growth strategy and the city’s development orientation according to Resolution 45-NQ/TW.

The strong participation of all levels, sectors and the business community has created a foundation for the Hai Phong science and technology ecosystem to develop in an open direction - connecting with global knowledge. Many high-tech cooperation projects have been initiated, many technology transfer opportunities have been realized, gradually increasing the competitiveness of local products in the international market.

With strategic vision, innovative thinking and proactive integration, Hai Phong is affirming its development path based on knowledge, science - technology and innovation. This is the important driving force for the city to make a strong breakthrough in the new period, towards the position of a science - technology center of the region and the whole country.

Center for Science and Technology Communication

Source: https://mst.gov.vn/hop-tac-quoc-te-chia-khoa-thuc-day-khoa-hoc-cong-nghe-va-doi-moi-sang-tao-o-hai-phong-197251116160158836.htm