On the morning of December 30, in Hanoi, General Secretary To Lam met with 200 intellectuals and scientists with many achievements and contributions, working in the fields of research, application, education and training nationwide.

Also attending the Conference were: Politburo member, Standing member of the Secretariat Tran Cam Tu, Chairman of the Central Inspection Commission; Politburo members, Secretaries of the Party Central Committee: Head of the Central Propaganda Department Nguyen Trong Nghia, Head of the Central Organization Department Le Minh Hung; Politburo member, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council Nguyen Xuan Thang; Secretaries of the Party Central Committee: Chief of the Party Central Committee Office Nguyen Duy Ngoc, Head of the Central External Relations Department Le Hoai Trung; Party Central Committee members: Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh; representatives of leaders of departments, ministries, branches, central agencies, research institutes, universities, mass organizations in the fields of science and technology, education and training.

At the meeting, delegates expressed their joy and emotion at the attention of the Party, State, central ministries and branches; reported on the results achieved in research, application and training in a number of important fields such as health, agriculture, high technology, etc.; and the work of attracting, gathering and promoting the role of intellectuals and scientists.

Delegates of intellectuals and scientists have made proposals and recommendations to improve 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 develop strategic technology and industrial sectors and fields in the new era.

Prof. Dr. Le Thi Hop, President of the Vietnam Association of Women Intellectuals (front row, 3rd from left) attended the meeting.

View of the meeting. Photo: Nghia Duc

The meeting is also a meaningful forum to listen to ideas, proposals and creative solutions, contributing to making science and technology truly an important driving force for the country’s sustainable development.

General Secretary To Lam speaks. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

Speaking at the meeting, General Secretary To Lam affirmed that the revolutionary achievements, especially the great achievements of the country after 40 years of renovation, have especially important contributions from the team of intellectuals and scientists.

From advising on paving the way for innovation in thinking, especially economic thinking, Vietnam has escaped the socio-economic crisis, gradually integrated into the international economy, provided scientific foundations, proposed ideas, social criticism, organized implementation, creativity, created ideas, inventions, products contributing to promoting industrialization and modernization of the country, promoting innovation, leaving a strong mark on the dedication and contributions of our country’s intellectuals and scientists.

On behalf of the Party and State leaders, General Secretary To Lam acknowledged, commended, highly appreciated and congratulated the achievements and results that our country’s intellectuals and scientists have achieved during the revolutionary stages of the Party, especially during the period of national renewal.

The General Secretary pointed out that the world is in a period of epochal change. With the country’s position and strength after 40 years of renovation, with new opportunities and fortunes, the Party, State and people are expecting and looking forward to contributions and dedication at a new scale and level, with strong breakthroughs from the team of intellectuals and scientists. Only science, technology and innovation are the ways to help us catch up, progress together, break through and surpass ourselves and the world.

To achieve this requirement, the General Secretary emphasized that on the part of the Party, the State, Party committees and authorities at all levels, it is necessary to strongly innovate the training, selection, use and promotion of intellectuals and scientists. Ensure the effective and timely implementation of the goals, viewpoints, tasks and solutions stated in Resolution No. 45-NQ/TW dated November 24, 2023 of the 13th Party Central Committee on continuing to build and promote the role of the intellectual team to meet the requirements of rapid and sustainable national development in the new period.

In the first half of 2025, the National Strategy on developing intellectuals in the period of promoting industrialization and modernization will be reviewed, evaluated and issued according to the content of Resolution No. 45 of the 13th Central Executive Committee mentioned above.

At the same time, there are specific and practical solutions to strongly innovate thinking, improve and unify awareness in Party committees, Party organizations, the political system and the whole society about the position, role and importance of building a contingent of intellectuals in the new situation, first of all the heads of departments, ministries, branches, Party committees and authorities at all levels; ensure “rule of law” and strictly handle violations of the law on building a contingent of intellectuals.

The Secretariat directs Party Committees and relevant agencies to advise and coordinate to ensure effective implementation of these contents.

The General Secretary asked the intellectuals and scientists to make efforts to fulfill their responsibilities and missions in the new revolutionary period, strongly increasing their contributions with the entire Party, people and army to successfully achieve strategic goals, making our country a developed country with high income by 2045, on par with the world powers.

Research and focus on early implementation of Resolution No. 57 dated December 22, 2024 of the Politburo “On breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation” as a source of inspiration, a new driving force, a new land, a new sky for the creativity of intellectuals and scientists.

The General Secretary hopes that intellectuals and scientists must be the core force, the ones with the “magic” to put Vietnam in the top 3 countries in Southeast Asia in research and development of artificial intelligence; the top 50 countries in the world in digital competitiveness and e-Government development index; and have at least 5 digital technology enterprises on par with technology powers by 2030.

By 2045, Vietnam will be one of the digital technology industrial centers of the region and the world; among the top 30 countries in the world in innovation and digital transformation; with advanced, modern digital technology infrastructure, super large capacity, super wide bandwidth on par with “digital technology empires.”

The General Secretary pointed out that the intellectuals and scientists need to be deeply aware of the responsibilities of intellectuals and scientists in the new revolutionary period, the responsibility to raise the intellectual level and national strength; the responsibility to self-train, foster, and help the current generation of intellectuals progress, train new intellectuals, successors, and pioneers to create high-quality spiritual and material products for society, participate in the development of the knowledge economy, industrialization, modernization, and international integration of the country, create a strong driving force for building and protecting the Fatherland, and contribute to shaping the future of humanity and global civilization.

The team of intellectuals and scientists must be honest with the people, with the State, honest with themselves, strive, be honest in science and creativity with their abilities and beyond their abilities, even “surpassing themselves” to serve the people and for the prosperity of the country; know how to debate and dare to debate scientifically, with basis and solid arguments of a constructive nature.

The General Secretary suggested constantly consolidating the worker-farmer-intellectuals alliance in new conditions and attracting Vietnamese intellectuals living and working abroad and foreign intellectuals to contribute to the country’s development; strengthening cooperation with Vietnamese intellectuals living and working abroad and foreign intellectuals in transferring and developing science, technology, innovation, especially in new areas such as digital transformation and green transformation.

The General Secretary requested to pay attention to education and training, build a team of intellectuals and high-quality human resources. Teachers must first of all be scientists and intellectuals; have a plan to train leading scientists in various fields, especially important fields today such as: Artificial Intelligence, digital transformation, green transformation, digital economy, quantum, biomedicine… encourage scientists to freely explore, especially in the gaps and wilderness of science.

Closely connect scientific centers, research institutes, schools with businesses and vice versa. Perfect laws and regulations on intellectual property, innovation achievements, breakthrough achievements in the field of modern science and technology.

Perfecting institutions and consistent behavior in science and technology development in accordance with market mechanisms, international practices, and the characteristics of science and technology and innovation; accepting risks and delays in scientific research and innovation activities.

To bring the country firmly into a new era, an era of rising up, an era of development, prosperity, standing shoulder to shoulder with the world powers, successfully realizing the wishes of President Ho Chi Minh and the aspirations of the entire nation, the General Secretary emphasized that more than ever, the Party, the State, and the people place great trust and expectations on the team of intellectuals and scientists – the core pioneers who create innovation, strong breakthroughs, and create maximum acceleration for the goal of rapid and sustainable development of the country in the new period.

Speaking at the meeting, Prof. Dr. Vu Thi Thu Ha shared the joy of the scientific community when the General Secretary issued Central Resolution No. 57 on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation.

Prof. Dr. Vu Thi Thu Ha speaking at the meeting

According to Professor Vu Thi Thu Ha, our country has never needed the driving force of science and technology like it does now. Every industry and every field needs that driving force to make a breakthrough.

“Personally, I was trained quite systematically since I was young in a country with a developed science and technology industry, and have been directly involved in science and technology and innovation activities for 32 years, in a “near-critical” environment, that is, an environment of autonomy and self-responsibility since the organization was established. Up to now, we have achieved many achievements in science and technology development and innovation, creating many products from 100% Vietnamese internal resources, which have been applied in industrial production, creating clear socio-economic and environmental efficiency. During such operations, we have also gained many practical lessons.” – Prof. Dr. Vu Thi Thu Ha said.

From those practices, here, Prof. Dr. Vu Thi Thu Ha mentioned a small part of the third and fourth pillars in the guiding viewpoint of Central Resolution No. 57:  that is, to quickly institutionalize Central Resolution 57 to put it into practice, in the direction of being able to liberate 100% of the national S&T and innovation capacity, thereby maximizing added value in the product value chain thanks to S&T and innovation.  opening up opportunities for equal participation in the global value chain, creating new space for economic growth, ensuring a sustainable environment.

To partly unleash the internal resources of science, technology and national innovation, Professor, Dr. Vu Thi Thu Ha makes the following suggestions:

Firstly, in the process of institutionalization, we must always take into account the specific characteristics of scientific research and technology deployment activities, and the characteristics of people working in science and technology. And because we need a “real-life” policy to promote/monitor “real-life” science and technology activities, we need to innovate from planning for each specific industry and field, to specific financial mechanisms to create motivation for development and innovation. Scientists all want to have policies that create motivation for passion and dedication. Even when we have that, in the process of performing our tasks, we will still encounter a “matrix” of objective difficulties, so science and technology managers should truly understand, accompany, and resolve them with feasible measures.

Second, for some suitable fields of science and technology (may not be all industries and fields), it is necessary to boldly implement the  “Fund” mechanism and apply the form of “Contracting to the final product” .  reducing all intermediate procedures while still ensuring effective and scientific financial management – TOWARDS THE GOAL OF 100% OF SCIENTISTS’ CAPACITY AND ENERGY FOR PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES. This will create a strong driving force for the development of science and technology and innovation.

Third, promptly propose solutions to remove difficulties in the BUFFER ZONE – PERFECTING TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCTS, COMMERCIALIZATION OF EXPERIMENTS. Specifically, it is necessary to create an environment so that the state and enterprises set “practical” “practical” “innovative” topics and scientists/scientific organizations that receive orders have enough “tools”, “enough finance” and “clear corridors” to do it to the end, to do “real combat”. In other words, it is focused investment and investment to the “threshold”, creating an important driving force to overcome “bottlenecks” on the path from the laboratory to the factory.

Finally, regarding proposals in science and technology development to meet sustainable development goals, it is necessary to prioritize research directions on saving resources and energy. Specifically, in the context of socio-economic development with increasing demand for materials and energy while fossil and mineral resources are gradually depleted and declining in quality, it is necessary to prioritize the development of deep processing processes that bring high added value. At the same time, it is necessary to focus on developing renewable resources and accompanying deep processing technologies. It is necessary to deeply understand the specific advantages of Vietnam’s raw material resources in the face of the world’s material needs in order to have policies to quickly promote deep processing, before those resources are lost or their competitiveness is reduced.

General Secretary To Lam takes a souvenir photo with leaders of the Vietnam Association of Women Intellectuals. Photo: VNA

                                                                                                          Source: New Women Magazine