Hanoi (VNA) - Construction of the National Innovation Centre (NIC)officially kicked off in Hanoi on January 9 along with the opening of aninternational exhibition displaying the year’s leading innovations.

Addressing the event, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc stressed that innovationhas become the key to the success and plays an important role in socio-economicdevelopment strategies devised by most nations and territories.

The Party and State are aware of the decisive role of innovation in renewing growthmodel, thereby creating a firm foundation for maintaining high and sustainablegrowth and generating quality jobs, the PM said.

With the rapid development of the fourth Industrial Revolution, the countrymust swiftly adapt and take firm steps to implement a plan.

He highlighted the country’s achievements in 2020, saying that Vietnam hasreceived official recognition as a dynamic economy in Asia, with an annual GDPgrowth rate of 6.3 percent over the past decade. Last year, Vietnam was ranked oneof the 16 most successful emerging economies to successfully achieve the dualgoal of epidemic prevention and economic recovery. This can be seen throughpositive growth of 2.9 percent, making Vietnam among a group of nations torecord the highest growth rate in the world.

The PM attributed the success to the country’s efforts in applyingtechnological advances to production and business activities, serving to createadded value to the national economy.

As part of the strategy to turn the country into a developed and high incomenation by 2045, PM Phuc said Vietnam must rely on knowledge, science, andtechnology, especially innovation, all of which can be considered importantfactors for growth.

Most notably, it is the use of new technology coupled with suitable humanresources that will be the decisive factor for long-term growth, the key toachieving development breakthroughs, and helping the country to get out of themiddle-income trap, said PM Phuc.

He expressed his great appreciation for the Ministry of Planning andInvestment’s initiative to organise the innovation exhibition as a way ofpromoting the central role of enterprises in the innovation ecosystem andexpressing Vietnamese desires to be a regional innovation destination.

The Prime Minister maintained that the commencement of the National InnovationCentre project will create an ideal condition for the local innovationecosystem to develop and reach out across the globe. He also expressed his hopethat the centre will be soon come into operation in order to become apioneering model that can be promoted nationwide.

Meanwhile, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said that the NICaims to host domestic and foreign technology firms and provide the optimalinfrastructure system for the research and development of technological andstartup ideas.

He added that the centre will support the connection and promote investment,speeding up the commercialisation of technological products.

He underlined that the NIC will help facilitate the formation of innovativecentres in localities and regions, making important contributions to therestructuring of the economy and the transformation of the country’s growthmodel, improving the efficiency and competitiveness of the Vietnamese economy.

Approved by the Prime Minister in 2019, the National Innovation Centre (NIC),worth 740 billion VND (32 million USD), locates in Hoa Lac hi-tech park on theoutskirts of Hanoi.

The centre, covering an area of 35 hectares, is set up under the PrimeMinister’s Decision No.1269/QD-TTg to support and develop the nation’sstart-ups and innovation ecosystems, contributing to the growth models based onscience and technology.

It is expected to house domestic and international innovative businesses, laboratories,offices of large corporations, as well as working place of leading experts andscientists.


The Vietnam International Innovation Expo, the first of its kind in thecountry, has attracted the participation of 113 local businesses, 22 foreigninvested firms, and 21 institutions to showcase new products and technologymodels across 156 booths./.