Close collaboration to promote potential of science & technology in HCMC

All activities of the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) Department of Science and Technology, the Saigon Hi-tech Park, and the Vietnam National University HCMC show that a basic and strong connection has been formed to unlock the full potential of science and technology in the area.

The robot laboratory in the Saigon Hi-tech Park
The robot laboratory in the Saigon Hi-tech Park

Recently, eight new programs have been approved, the most prominent of which are those to increase the commercialization capacity of research results.

They are all programs in the framework of the cooperation between the HCMC People’s Committee and the Vietnam National University HCMC, consisting of ‘Improving the quality of the human resources’, ‘Administrative work reform’, ‘Increasing the growth quality and competitiveness of the economy in HCMC’, ‘Reducing traffic congestion and traffic accidents’, ‘Decreasing urban flooding and coping with climate change – sea level rise’, ‘Decreasing environment pollution’, ‘Promoting the potential of science and technology between the Vietnam National University HCMC and the Saigon Hi-tech Park’, ‘Developing the integrated circuit (IC) industry in the period from 2018 – 2020, with a vision to 2030’.

The above matters are all major issues attracted much attention from the public in HCMC.

In the signing ceremony, Associate Professor cum Doctor Huynh Thanh Dat, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Director of the Vietnam National University HCMC, pledged to responsibly follow all signed content in order to contribute to the growth of HCMC. He hoped that HCMC will become a modern and loving place with high living standards.

The Vietnam National University was also invited to join with the Vietnamese delegation of high-level state officers to visit and sign the memorandum collaboration agreement with other universities like the Laos National University, Kyushu University of Japan, Auckland Technology University, and Waikato University of New Zealand.

According to Associate Professor cum Doctor Le Hoai Quoc, Head of the organization board of the Saigon Hi-tech Park, there have been much scientific and technological cooperation between his organization and the Vietnam National University, resulting in many commercial products like the construction project ‘Design House’ in the field of IC.

Many international conferences on science and technology have also been held for the expansion of knowledge in the field.

After the sign ceremony, following the instruction of the HCMC People’s Committee, the HCMC Department of Science and Technology cooperated with the Vietnam National University HCMC to host a discussion between managers and scientists, lecturers in order to develop a collaboration solution for the improvement of commercialization capacity of research results in universities and institutes.

As agreed by most participants, many researches at the moment are not practical enough to satisfy the market’s demands, which inevitably results in the difficulty in commercialization process. To tackle this problem, it is essential that a close connection be formed between the government – the educational institutes – the enterprises.

In particular, businesses should not only place their order to research centers but also invest into and support researchers in the whole process.

At the moment, the HCMC Department of Science and Technology has offered many programs to promote scientific and technological activities in relation with innovation and creativity. It focuses on such projects like how to increase the commercialization capacity of research results, how to meet the market’s and the city’s demands. It encourages research in the duration of 5 years.

Also, heads of these projects are responsible for identifying specific aims and designing particular content so that it is easier to find suitable units to carry out them.

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