At a mid-term conference on July 14 reviewing tasks in the first half of the year and discussing tasks for the second half, Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung highlighted several concerns.

“The State this year allocates VND25,000 billion more to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) to develop science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation. Of this, 80 percent has been registered by ministries, branches and localities to spend on building facilities and buying machines. Only 20 percent is expected to be spent on research,” Hung said.

Notably, 70 percent of the funding for digital transformation is spent on purchasing equipment and hardware, with no investment in software platforms or innovation. No entity has requested digital transformation funding to conduct research changes in operational models or to invest in process reform.

“Digital transformation without changing operational models only adds hardship, burdening those who use the software,” the Minister said.

Hung noted that in digital transformation, at least 10 percent of the budget must be allocated to research and process reform. Otherwise, the remaining 90 percent will be “wasted.” However, “there is no funding for this, so no one is doing it.”

Revenue from research

Setting high requirements on budget efficiency, the minister stated that for every dong the state invests in research, ten dong in revenue must be generated. Additionally, one dong of state investment in research and development should attract 3-4 dong from businesses for the same purpose.

He said that innovation is the path for Vietnam to apply science and technology to daily life, enhancing efficiency, improving processes, and ultimately creating technology to boost labor productivity and GDP.

Specifically, the set target is for science and technology to contribute 1 percent to GDP, digital transformation 1-1.5 percent, and innovation 3 percent.

The Minister also reiterated the current S.I.S mechanism, stating that for every ten dong a business spends on science and technology, the state will reimburse four dong through tax incentives, meaning businesses effectively spend only six dong.

Innovation is believed to drive economic growth, but the actual spending on innovation remains very low. In a VND200,000 billion bidding package, MST allocated VND8,000 billion, but 97 percent was spent on expense items, with only 3 percent used for innovation.

Another concerning figure is the number of standards necessary for the country’s development: at only around 5 percent, this is a very modest figure given practical requirements.

“Without guiding standards, a country cannot become developed. We talk about digital transformation but we have no digital standards. We talk about public services but have no public service standards. We talk about national governance but have no national governance standards. We talk about high-quality growth but have no standards for it,” the Minister said.

Hung has asked the National Standards, Metrology, and Quality Committee to find ways to increase this figure to a maximum of 70 percent within one year. Standards guide national development, and without them, a country cannot become developed, he said.

To address these shortcomings, the Ministry of Science and Technology is accelerating the refinement of foundational legal systems.

In 2025 alone, the Ministry drafts nine laws related to science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation - an unprecedented workload for a ministry in a single term.

The laws include the Law on Science, Technology, and Innovation; the Intellectual Property Law; the High Technology Law; the High-Tech Zone Law; the Law on Commercialization of Research Results; and the Technology Transfer Law, among others.

“Previously, a ministry passing two laws in one National Assembly term (five years) was considered significant. With the large number of laws to be drafted and the bold reform spirit of Resolution 57, we must exert tremendous effort, show high determination, and adopt new working methods to complete the task,” the Minister said.

Alongside these, three laws were enacted, including the Telecommunications Law, the Frequency Law, and the Electronic Transactions Law, which, together with other laws, are expected to create a clear legal framework to promote science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation.

However, according to Hung, having laws is not enough. Without changing mindsets and methods, even tens of thousands of billions of VND will not yield results.

Thai Khang