VNA Wednesday, May 12, 2021 08:53

Hanoi (VNA) - Hanoi is working on a plan to form a technology trading platform - a move considered critical for the development of the science-technology market in the capital and in Vietnam as a whole.
Identifying the market as a component of the economy with a key role to play in promoting technological invention and innovation, the municipal People’s Committee devised a plan on developing the local market in the 2006-2010 period and it remains an issue to this day.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Science and Technology Nguyen Quoc Ha told the Ha Noi Moi newspaper that although many significant strides forward have been made, the science-technology market in the capital has yet to match the city’s potential. He pointed out that technology providers such as research institutes, universities, enterprises, and individuals still lack experience in marketing their scientific and technological products and also have little understanding about demand in society, while those with demand for such products lack information on suppliers.
Vu Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the National Agency for Science and Technology Information under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that setting up a network of technology trading platforms in Hanoi, central Da Nang city, and Ho Chi Minh City - one of the three objectives of the programme on developing the science-technology market to 2020 - has fallen short of expectations. Therefore, in the time ahead, Hanoi needs to establish a platform of this kind to encourage technology trading and help fuel the science-technology market in both the capital and the country, he said.

Hoang Ba Tien, a representative from the Vietnam National Seed Group (VINASEED), said his company always has demand for new seedling technologies, but technology transactions have been conducted mainly via advisory units or introductions by scientists themselves. The company doesn’t have anywhere to connect with or proactively seek the products it needs, he noted, adding that it is indeed necessary to have a technology trading platform to access related information to serve production and business activities.
The resolution from the 17th Hanoi Party Congress pointed out the necessity of continuing to prioritise the development of the science-technology market. Forming a technology trading platform for Hanoi and then a national technology exchange connected with the world’s major tech hubs are also among the key tasks within the municipal Party Committee’s Programme No 07-CTr/TU, dated March 17 this year, on stepping up the development of science, technology, and innovation in the city during the 2021-2025 period. Ha said the Department of Science and Technology is completing a plan on the building and operation of Hanoi’s technology exchange.

Accordingly, it will operate both physically and online. The physical platform will display technological products and provide a venue for suppliers and buyers to meet. The online version will act as an e-commerce platform for trading technologies and equipment, a platform for advisory and brokerage activities, and a database on scientific and technological advances.
Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Xuan Dung said a technology exchange will play an important role in local scientific and technological development. However, he noted, as this is a completely new model and there is not much experience or knowledge on the matter, relevant agencies should be prudent when preparing plans so that, once implemented, they will prove effective in promoting the science-technology market and meet development demand.

The transaction value of Vietnam’s science-technology market posted average annual growth of 22 percent during the 2011-2020 period.

Vietnam ranked 42nd among 131 economies in the 2020 Global Innovation Index (GII). Among those making the most significant progress in their GII innovation ranking over time, Vietnam led 29 lower middle-income countries and was third in Southeast Asia.

Last year, it moved up 13 places from the previous year to 59th in the rankings of 100 economies with the best start-up ecosystems./.