Party leader underscores need for breakthroughs in science, technology, and innovation

The Party leader hosted a reception on December 30 in Hanoi for 200 prominent intellectuals and scientists who are currently working in different areas of research, application, education, and training nationwide.

At the meeting, delegates reported on the results achieved in research, application, and training in a number of important fields such as medicine, agriculture, high technology, as well as efforts to attract, gather, and enhance the role of both intellectuals and scientists for the cause of national development.

They also proposed that the Party and State work to fine-tune institutions; create breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation; build international-class research and training facilities; develop high-quality human resources for the country, and increase the use of strategic technology and industrial sectors and fields in the new era.

In his speech, the Party chief acknowledged the contributions made by intellectuals and scientists to the country’s achievements, especially during the 40 years of renewal.

He underlined the need for the Party, State, and all levels of the current administration to make strong renovations in training, recruiting, and using intellectuals and scientists.

General Secretary To Lam urged intellectuals and scientists to fulfil their responsibilities and missions in the new revolutionary phase, uniting with the entire Party, military, and people to achieve strategic goals, thereby turning the country into a developed, high-income nation by 2045, on a par with global powers.

The effective and early implementation of the Politburo’s Resolution No. 57 on breakthroughs in the development of science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation will serve to inspire fresh momentum and create a new creativity frontier for them, he assessed.

The Party chief voiced his hope that intellectuals and scientists will play a key role in elevating Vietnam to among the top three Southeast Asian countries in terms of the research and development of artificial intelligence and will put it among the top 50 nations globally in terms of digital competitiveness and e-government development. By 2030, the nation should have at least five digital technology companies on par with global tech powers. By 2045, Vietnam will be one of the global technology hubs, ranking among the top 30 countries globally in terms of innovation and digital transformation, he went on.

He also called on intellectuals and scientists to step up greater efforts in training the next generation of intellectuals, while simultaneously working to reinforce the workers-peasants-intellectuals alliance in the new context, attracting Vietnamese intellectuals working abroad and international intellectuals to contribute to the country's development. Other efforts include strengthening co-operation with overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and foreign scientists in transferring, developing science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation. This step can be viewed as essential, especially in new fields such as digital and green transformation.

It is imperative to develop a high-quality intellectual contingent and human resources, with the main role played by educators who should primarily be scientists and intellectuals, with plans to train leading scientists in fields crucial for the country's development, such as artificial intelligence, digital and green transformation, quantum computing, and biosciences, he stressed.

The Party General Secretary also outlined the need to forge a closer link among scientific centres, research institutes, schools, and enterprises, and the necessity for intellectual property laws and regulations to be perfected.

To ensure the country confidently steps into a new era, the era of the nation’s rise, he stressed that the Party, State, and people place great trust and expectation in intellectuals and scientists, with this group being the pioneers driving innovation and breakthroughs, speeding up the goal of fast and sustainable national development in the new period.

On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam also asked ministries and local sectors to constantly strengthen the worker-farmer-intellectuals alliance in new conditions and attract Vietnamese intellectuals living and working abroad and foreign intellectuals to make positive contributions to the cause of national development.