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Basic Research, Science and Technology, Innovation, Vietnam
Abstract:
The mission of the National Center for Scientific Research set up in the 1970s included an
ambition to address the core problem of responding to society’s needs. With reforms in the
early 1990s, there was an attempt to reorient the activities of the renamed National Center for
Natural Science and Technology in response to the Đổi mới policies of economic liberalization.
The optimism of the scientists regarding the opportunities for external sources of income from
research contracts and commercialization of technology through entrepreneurial ventures only
materialized to a limited extent. During the 21st Century, the leadership of the scientific
organization – now called the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology – and the
Vietnamese Government have reiterated mission priorities for serving the society and
establishing a key role in the innovation system. The recent five years have witnessed some
improvement in this respect, however, with the consolidation of a legal framework and the
establishment of new funding mechanisms for research and innovation. The lack of consistent
orientation among scientists towards exploring and developing the utility of scientific research
(i.e., Pasteur’s quadrant), and the absence of psychological and material incentives for
linkages with potential users and markets also hampered commercialization; those who
ventured into the marketplace with their services for products had little experience about
scaling up of production, marketing, or other aspects of business.
