Science and Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation: The “Inevitable Path” for Vietnam to Become a Developed Country

Science, Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation (STEM) is not only a trend, but also an "inevitable path" for Vietnam to rise up in the new era, becoming a developed, wealthy, civilized, prosperous and prosperous country. That was the affirmation of Politburo member, Secretary of the Government Party Committee, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the 1st Congress of Delegates for the 2025-2030 term organized by the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) on August 16 in Hanoi.

With the motto "Solidarity - Discipline - Breakthrough - Creativity - Development", the Congress of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology for the 2025-2030 term summarized and evaluated the results of leadership and direction in implementing the Resolution of the Congress for the 2020-2025 term, and agreed on the directions, goals and tasks for the 2025-2030 term. The Congress also contributed opinions to the draft documents of the 14th National Party Congress and the draft documents of the 1st Government Party Congress for the 2025-2030 term.

Create synergy

The report at the Congress stated that from March 1, 2025, the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology was established on the basis of merging the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Party Committee of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC). Inheriting and promoting the achievements, the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology for the 2020-2025 term has clearly demonstrated its role as the political core, comprehensively leading all aspects of the Ministry's work.

Many Resolutions and Action Programs have been issued, creating breakthroughs in thinking and leadership methods, promoting institutional reform, and expanding new development space; the set targets have basically been completed and exceeded.

Member of the Politburo , Secretary of the Government Party Committee, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the first Congress of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology, term 2025-2030.

In particular, completing 2 targets set out in the 10-year Socio-Economic Development Strategy 2021-2030 includes: The proportion of digital economy in GDP in 2025 is estimated at 20.5% and the target of contribution of total factor productivity (TFP) to growth is estimated at 46.2% in the 2021-2024 period.

Speaking at the opening of the Congress, Secretary of the Party Committee and Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung said: Looking back on the 5-year journey of implementing the Resolution of the Party Congress of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Party Congress of the Ministry of Information and Communications, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung affirmed that, basically, the set targets have been completed and exceeded.

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung speaks at the Congress.

According to Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, the 2025-2030 term has special significance: This is the first term of the unified Ministry of Science and Technology; it is also the term to launch Resolution 57 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in the development of science and technology, national industrialization and modernization; the first time to comprehensively implement the second innovation in science and technology and post and telecommunications; the first term to bring the three strategies of science and technology, industrialization and modernization under one roof; and especially science and technology, industrialization and modernization are given the mission of becoming the main driving force to realize the aspiration of Vietnam becoming a high-income developed country with a socialist orientation.

Science and technology, innovation and digital transformation form a resonant ecosystem, promoting each other's development and playing a key role in the national development strategy. Science and technology provide the knowledge foundation and technical tools; innovation transforms that knowledge into new products, services and business models; digital transformation opens up space for deployment and expansion of application scale at high speed and low cost.

According to Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, fundamental innovation is science and technology, innovation and digital transformation must aim at the ultimate goal of improving national competitiveness, labor productivity, national governance capacity, economic growth, ensuring national security and defense, and improving people's quality of life. Science and technology, innovation and digital transformation must contribute at least 50% to GDP growth.

Science and technology, innovation and digital transformation must focus on solving national strategic problems, such as promoting double-digit growth, effectively implementing the two-level local government model, improving institutional quality, human resource quality, infrastructure, public service quality and product quality.

The spirit of innovation is to closely connect science and technology, innovation and digital transformation to form a technology - innovation - and data ecosystem, shifting from process management to goal and result management, taking enterprises as the center of the national innovation ecosystem, institutes and schools as the source of knowledge and the state as the creator and supporter, connecting the whole people and the whole society to participate in innovation and digital transformation.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung and delegates attending the Party Congress

Ministry of Science and Technology, term 2025-2030.

The political report at the Congress showed that, in the context of many international fluctuations and the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Party Committees of the two Ministries (before the merger) issued and vigorously implemented the Action Program to implement the Resolution of the 13th Congress. The field of science and technology achieved many results with the National Innovation Index ranked 44/133 countries and economies (2024), up 04 places compared to 2022; the number of international publications in 2024 was 22,259, up 22.4% compared to 2020; the rate of enterprises with innovation activities reached 38% (2023), up 9.5% compared to 2021 (reaching 28.5%); the national quality infrastructure index ranked 52 (2023), up 2 places compared to 2020; The rate of internationally harmonized standards will reach 63.6% (2024), an increase of 3.6% compared to 2020 (reaching 60%); The number of Vietnamese standards announced will reach 14,159 TCVNs (2025), an increase of 15.22% compared to 2020; The number of applications/patents will reach 1226/308 (2024), an increase of 20.2%/121.6% compared to 2020.

The IT&T sector in the 2020 - 2025 term also achieved remarkable development: The integrated postal development index ranked 31 (in 2024), up 18 places compared to 2020; the telecommunications infrastructure index ranked 67 (in 2024), up 7 places compared to 2022; the e-government development index ranked 71 (in 2024), up 15 places compared to 2020; the IPv6 usage rate reached 65%, ranked 7th in the world, up 3 places compared to 2020; mobile internet speed ranked 19th in the world and up 41 places compared to 2020; the proportion of the population covered by 5G mobile: reached 99.6%, higher than high-middle-income countries (99.4%)...

Overview of the Congress.

Complete many breakthrough targets

In his congratulatory speech and direction for the Congress, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that the Congress of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology for the 2025-2030 term is an important event, not only to evaluate the leadership and direction of the Party Committee in the past term, but also to determine the direction, goals, tasks and solutions for the coming term.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his delight at the Congress taking place in a vibrant, comprehensive atmosphere, with innovative thinking and drastic action; especially Resolution 57 of the Politburo is gradually coming into life. "On August 19, we will start and inaugurate 250 major projects nationwide with a total capital of more than 1.2 million billion VND, of which 37% is private capital with many science and technology projects," the head of the Government shared.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the Congress.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh praised the urgent, methodical and serious working spirit of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology in preparing and organizing the Congress; highly appreciated the determination and drastic direction and management of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the Ministry and the collective leadership of the Ministry in reviewing, developing plans, projects and organizing the implementation of the organizational arrangement. Immediately after the merger, the Ministry of Science and Technology immediately went into operation, performing well the assigned political tasks.

The Prime Minister summarized the achievements, results, and marks of the Ministry of Science and Technology in the past term: Institutions were perfected; infrastructure was upgraded; digital transformation was promoted; innovation was spread; digital government was upgraded; digital skills were improved; people enjoyed benefits; Party building was consolidated and enhanced; difficulties were resolved; trust was ignited. 32/34 set targets were completed, including many breakthrough targets.

5 key tasks of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology

The Prime Minister stated that the Ministry of Science and Technology has a particularly important position, performing the function of state management of scientific research activities, technology development, innovation, high-tech development, strategic technology, intellectual property; measurement standards, quality; information technology industry...; must be a pioneer, exemplary, and take the lead in developing science and technology, innovation and digital transformation, contributing to renewing traditional growth drivers and promoting new growth drivers, bringing the content of science and technology to increase overall labor productivity. The Prime Minister requested that the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology in the coming term focus on a number of key tasks.

Firstly , focus on doing well the Party building work, improving the leadership capacity and fighting strength of the entire Party organization, and improving the quality of Party members.

Second , continue to innovate leadership thinking, improve the capacity to plan and implement science and technology policies, with the motto: Take data as the foundation, take technology as a tool, take innovation as the driving force, take digital transformation as the method, take people and businesses as the center.

Proactively promote administrative procedure reform, institutionalize and effectively implement Central Resolutions, especially Resolution 57 and Resolution 66 on law making and enforcement. The focus is on amending and perfecting the legal system on science and technology, innovation and digital transformation in an integrated, synchronous and transparent manner.

The Prime Minister assigned the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology to focus on prioritizing all resources to complete the 4 draft laws to be submitted to the 10th Session of the 15th National Assembly (expected in October 2025). Establish a Venture Capital Fund soon.

Third , encourage diversified investment resources for the fields of science and technology, innovation and digital transformation, especially private investment; develop the national innovation ecosystem.

Fourth , promote comprehensive digital transformation, develop digital government, digital economy, digital society, and modern digital citizens. Pay special attention to developing digital infrastructure, national data platforms, and ensuring information security, network security, and digital sovereignty. Actively participate in and promote the Digital Literacy Movement. Urgently overcome the situation of villages with low signal and electricity shortages.

Prioritize the development and mastery of strategic and core technologies. Develop plans to reorganize and reorganize science and technology organizations, invest in developing strong research organizations. Implement investment and share the exploitation of research centers and shared laboratories.

Fifth , the Prime Minister stated that one of the important tasks of the Congress is to contribute opinions to the documents of the 14th National Party Congress, to contribute opinions to the documents and to elect a delegation to attend the first Government Party Congress.

Affirming that science and technology, innovation and digital transformation are not only a trend, but also an "inevitable path" for Vietnam to rise up in the new era, becoming a developed, rich, civilized, prosperous and prosperous country, the Prime Minister requested that each cadre in this field must be a pioneer, a leader, a leader, and willing to sacrifice in developing and applying science and technology, innovation and digital transformation.

The Congress heard the announcement of the Government Party Committee's Decision to appoint and introduce the Executive Committee of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology, consisting of 30 comrades; the Standing Committee, consisting of 8 comrades; Comrade Nguyen Manh Hung, Party Committee Secretary, Minister of Science and Technology, was appointed as Secretary of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology for the 2025-2030 term.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh presented flowers to congratulate the Party Executive Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

term 2025 - 2030.

Center for Science and Technology Communication

Source: https://mst.gov.vn/khoa-hoc-cong-nghe-doi-moi-sang-tao-va-chuyen-doi-so-con-duong-tat-yeu-de-viet-nam-tro-thanh-nuoc-phat-trien-197250816212505894.htm