WIPO experts recommend that if Vietnam wants to become one of the top 40 innovative countries, it needs to create higher value in its production and branded products.
The information was shared by Mr. Sacha Wunsch Vincent, Senior Expert of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), co-author of the GII Report, at the conference on Global Innovation Index (GII) 2024 organized by The Ministry of Science and Technology organized the event on the afternoon of October 2.
In 2024, Vietnam’s GII index will rank 44/133 countries, up 2 places compared to position 46 in 2023. According to Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hoang Minh, the index set fully and comprehensively reflects the model. National economic development based on science, technology and innovation. Therefore, WIPO’s annual announcement is meaningful to each country.
“Vietnam is a typical country recognized by WIPO for many years of continuously improving rankings, turning resources from input into output for socio-economic development,” Mr. Minh said.
Accordingly, innovation input increases 4 levels compared to 2023 (from position 57 to 53), including 5 pillars: Institutions; Human resources and research; Infrastructure; Market development level; Business development level. Innovation output increases 4 places compared to 2023 (from position 40 to 36), including two pillars: Knowledge and technology products, Creative products.
“This is a proud result, the effort of the entire political system, joining hands to build Vietnam’s innovation ecosystem,” Deputy Minister Minh said.
Deputy Minister Hoang Minh spoke at the event. Image: Huy Tu
Mr. Sacha Wunsch Vincent, Senior Expert of WIPO, co-author of the GII Report highly appreciated the results Vietnam has achieved in recent years. “This is the most active country in using the GII index,” he said.
However, Vietnam’s indicators of scientific publications and spending on research and development and venture capital are decreasing. Patent applications also decreased sharply, “although this is a global trend, Vietnam needs to pay attention to these points,” he said.
Accordingly, there are three points that Vietnam needs to improve, including: spending on education per % of GDP; Increase the number of patent applications and further increase research and development (R&D) expenditures at the corporate and national levels. “This is an important driving force for future innovation activities,” he said.
Pointing out strengths, Mr. Sacha Wunsch Vincent emphasized that by 2024, Vietnam will have 3 leading indexes in the world including high-tech imports, high-tech exports, and creative goods exports. According to him, the indicators show that Vietnam is making efforts to bring goods to the international market and brand value is increasing strongly.
He recommended that Vietnam need to learn about capital consumption, investment activities in infrastructure or research and development. Vietnam needs to find ways to shift investment into innovation projects. If Vietnam wants to become one of the top 40 innovative countries, it needs to increase the brand value of its intellectual property products. “It is necessary to have products that are sophisticated enough to export under our own brand instead of just exporting products assembled according to orders from multinational corporations,” said Mr. Sacha Wunsch Vincent.
Agreeing with the recommendations, Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Tich, Director of the Academy of Science, Technology and Innovation, said that Vietnam needs to focus on improving index groups that are trending downward. In which, the quality of innovation is reflected in knowledge products such as international articles (ranked 97), PCT patent applications (ranked 91), and other intellectual assets compared to income levels. imports are still small and have not been exploited, developed, or traded much in the world. “This is partly because Vietnam’s research and development spending is still low and other input pillars do not support innovation well,” he said.
Viettel engineer researches 5G radio and transceiver station). Image: Le Mai
The Global Innovation Index (GII) is a set of tools to evaluate and rank the innovation capacity of countries that has been implemented by WIPO in collaboration with many units since 2007.
Through 17 publications, the GII report helps evaluate national innovation capacity and development compared to economies in the same region or income group. Through the indicators, each country can see the overall picture as well as its strengths and weaknesses, thereby making adjustments to its economic policy and innovation strategies. To rank countries, it will be based on 81 indicators, calculated by the average value of two innovation input and output sub-indices including 7 pillars: Macro-institutions; human resources and research; infrastructure; market and business environment; market development level; knowledge and technology, creative products.
In Vietnam, the Government uses this set of indicators as one of the important management tools. The Government’s drastic direction and the involvement of ministries and branches in proactively detecting causes and limitations, thereby having plans and solutions to adjust policies contribute to improving component indicators.