Minister pledges to strongly develop technology market

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan underlined a number of measures to build a technology market and promote the application of science-technology in agriculture as well as increase labour productivity and competitiveness at a Q&A session in the ninth meeting of the 13th National Assembly in Hanoi on June 12.

He said the ministry has created a legal foundation for the technology market in recent years, noting that the biggest shortcoming was failing to build intermediary institutions and services in the field.

He affirmed that the ministry is taking steps to address this weakness, including activities such as holding national and international technology equipment fairs and promoting gatherings for businesses and scientists at technology exchanges in Hanoi , Hai Phong, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City .

Besides submitting a national programme on developing the technology market to the Prime Minister, the ministry is seeking financial investment sources to shortly establish intermediary technology institutions in the market, he said.

He continued to say that close to VND3 trillion (US$142.86 million) is spent annually on scientific research, but noted that many research projects have not been put to use. The minister explained that investment from businesses is essential to bringing successful studies into reality while most domestic enterprises are of small and medium sizes with limited financial resources.

The ministry is implementing the national technology renovation programme of the Government and the National Foundation for Science and Technology to support businesses to bring research outcomes into production as quickly as possible, he said.

In response to NA deputies’ concern about the lack of high-quality strains in the field of agriculture, the minister said his ministry has worked with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to study high-yield rice varieties. At the same time, he said these varieties are not widely used due to the small number of businesses involved in commercialising rice strains. In addition, due to small scale production, farmers tend to choose cheap imported hybrid rice seeds on the market. According to the minister, when large-scale production develops, higher quality rice strains will be used on a wide scale.

The two ministries have also coordinated in preserving the valuable genes of Vietnamese plants and animals and pledged to support capable businesses to implement science-technology projects, he said.

(Source: nhandan.org.vn)