Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong told leaders of the Ministry of Science and Technology in Hanoi on September 10.

Despite huge efforts over the past 10 years, the national science and technology sector has yet to become a “key impetus to socio-economic development,” according to a report by Minister Nguyen Quan.

Under the guidelines from the Party on developing science-technology, the ministry has completed a legal framework for it, with 8 laws and nearly 300 documents.

The legal system has helped encourage scientists, entrepreneurs and managers to involve themselves in creative works, and partly contributed to the successful negotiations to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2006, according to Minister Quan.

Many results from State-funded studies have been applied to production and business, creating huge economic profits, he added.

He cited several examples of efficient projects completed in 2011. These included the creation of self-propelled offshore drilling rigs at a depth of 90m underwater, production of biological fuel and diesel and state-of-the art three-phase power transformers of European quality.

Another example was the successful use of stem cells to treat patients with pidermolysis bullosa (EB), a rare genetic skin disease, at the Hanoi-based National Paediatric Hospital. Vietnam was the second country in the world, after the US, to use this technique successfully.

Party leader Trong lauded achievements in science-technology over the past years, which he said have changed the nation from a self-sufficient economy focused mainly on agricultural production to a global rice and coffee exporter.

Yet he also stressed the need to remove obstacles in thinking and implement financial policies to support the sector.

He suggested mobilizing various resources from society to develop science-technology, adding that it’s necessary to provide enterprises with funding to carry out vital research.

Regarding human resources, Trong urged for a restructuring of the current workforce that would mandate training for those working in certain key areas.

At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan also pinpointed some issues that the sector should concentrate on need to be addressed soon.

He emphasized the crucial role of managers in leading scientists and enterprises to develop new science-technology products. Marketing products and services should also receive more attention, Nhan said.

He also asked for socio-economic plans from various sectors on how they would incorporate science and technology both for the next five years and in the longer term.