From training to leading innovation.
The Conference of the Council of University Presidents in Ho Chi Minh City, themed “Promoting the role of the council in the Ho Chi Minh City megacity region: Connectivity – Integration – Innovation,” is an important forum to concretize Resolution 57 on the development of science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation.
Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Nguyen Van Duoc, emphasized that the city is facing unprecedented challenges as traditional growth factors such as land, capital, and cheap labor have gradually reached their limits. In this context, without a strong transformation of its growth model, Ho Chi Minh City will find it very difficult to maintain its role as the economic locomotive of the country and its global competitiveness.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc, the path of development in the new phase must rely primarily on knowledge, science and technology, innovation, and high-quality human resources. This is not just a choice, but an essential requirement for Ho Chi Minh City to create new, more sustainable growth drivers with higher added value.
The city is "ordering" two urgent requirements from the university system. Firstly, to train high-quality human resources who are not only professionally competent but also possess a global mindset, master new technologies, and understand and meet the practical needs of the local area as well as the international market.
Secondly, it is essential to integrate science and technology into daily life in a practical way, so that knowledge does not remain merely on paper or in scientific reports, but is directly applied to production, urban management, healthcare, logistics, finance, and other key sectors of the city.
As a megacity facing numerous complex challenges, from infrastructure overload, climate change, and flooding to competition for investment and high-quality human resources, Ho Chi Minh City urgently needs the support of universities in resolving development bottlenecks.
At the conference, Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai, Director of the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, stated that higher education needs to shift strongly from its traditional training role to a leading role in innovation, closely linking research with the development needs of localities and businesses.
As a key national university with leading research capabilities in the Southern region, the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City aims to develop its member universities into national and international centers for entrepreneurship and innovation by 2030, linking research and training with technology transfer, commercialization of research results, and the formation of science and technology enterprises.
According to Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai, to achieve this, a more flexible mechanism is needed for cooperation with businesses, boldly empowering and accepting risks in the commercialization of research, while considering students, lecturers, and scientists as the core force of the urban innovation ecosystem.
The low-income economy opens up new avenues for growth.
From a technology business perspective, Mr. Vu Anh Tu, Chief Technology Officer of FPT Group and Director of FPT UAV, assessed the role of the Low Altitude Economy (LAE) in current economic development, especially for Ho Chi Minh City, which belongs to the group of potential economic sectors to concretize Resolution 57.
According to Mr. Vu Anh Tu, the global drone market is growing very rapidly. Bain's conservative forecast suggests the market size could reach approximately $49 billion in 2026; while Grand View Research estimates the global drone market to be around $73 billion in 2024 and potentially increase to $163.6 billion in the following period. Currently, the military sector still accounts for a large share, but civilian applications such as logistics, remote sensing, and smart cities are experiencing strong growth.
"Many countries planned for UAVs very early on and recently officially recognized it as an industry, directly contributing to other economic sectors in society," Mr. Vu Anh Tu shared.
For Ho Chi Minh City, the low-level economy can generate at least five major contributing groups. Firstly, in logistics and e-commerce, LAE opens up a "new transport lane" for the city, especially for short-haul deliveries, high-value goods, or urgent shipments, helping to reduce pressure on ground transport infrastructure.
Secondly, with emerging economic sectors and high-tech industrial clusters, LAE forms a value chain from design, hardware manufacturing, batteries, and sensors to flight control software, digital maps, operational services, training, and insurance.
Thirdly, in infrastructure management and smart cities, drones/UAVs create a new layer of data for cities, supporting real-time monitoring of construction, bridges, flooding, power grids, telecommunications, and public security.
Fourth, in the field of healthcare and emergency response, UAVs can transport test samples, medicines, and medical supplies, assisting in rescue operations during traffic jams, floods, or transportation disruptions.
Fifth, in new tourism and services, LAE can develop products such as drone demonstrations, filming, and tourism surveys; in the long term, low-altitude travel models when technology and legal frameworks allow.
According to Mr. Vu Anh Tu, the low-altitude economy is not a single production model but a complex ecosystem requiring synchronized coordination from the legal framework, infrastructure investment, digital operating systems for low-altitude airspace, safety assurance mechanisms to financial incentive policies.
For LAE to truly take off, it requires the collaboration and co-development of city governments, businesses, and universities from the research and pilot phase to practical implementation.
FPT Group stated its readiness to participate in building a digital platform for low-level economic management based on cloud, AI, data, real-time monitoring, and cybersecurity; to collaborate on pilot programs within the sandbox framework; and to train human resources in technology, data, and AI through FPT's education system.
Regarding support policies, the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology introduced two new policies directly related to the university sector.
Firstly, there is the Project for Commercializing Scientific Research Results, aimed at removing barriers to bringing research from the laboratory to the market. Accordingly, the city grants businesses the right to exploit research results, allowing commercialization immediately after acceptance, providing budget support for intellectual property registration, product refinement and pricing, while also accepting the risks if the project fails after following the correct procedures.
Secondly, there is a public-private venture capital fund in the science and technology sector, expected to be established in the first quarter of this year, with state capital playing the role of seed capital at approximately 20%, and the remainder coming from the private sector. Priority will be given to investing in strategic technologies and startups originating from universities and research institutes.
These policies are expected to provide a boost so that knowledge from universities truly becomes a new driving force for Ho Chi Minh City's development in its journey to build an innovative megacity.
Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thuc-hien-nghi-quyet-57/phat-trien-do-thi-gan-doi-moi-sang-tao-va-kinh-te-tam-thap-20260109165252668.htm
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