Vietnam ranked 46th out of 132 countries in the Global Innovation Index.

Vietnam maintains its 2nd position among 36 lower-middle-income economies; is one of the 7 middle-income countries that have made the most progress in Innovation over the past decade.

On April 19, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) held a ceremony to celebrate World Innovation and Creativity Day 2024.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat said: “Since 2017, the United Nations General Assembly has chosen April 21 every year as the World Day of Creativity and Innovation with the aim of raising awareness of the role of creativity and innovation in economic, social and sustainable development. Since 2022, the Ministry of Science and Technology has organized activities in response to the World Day of Creativity and Innovation and received the attention, enthusiastic and effective participation of many ministries, branches, localities and organizations nationwide.

Since 2023, with the technical support of the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Local Innovation Index (PII) has been officially deployed nationwide under the direction of the Government in Resolution No. 10/NQ-CP dated February 3, 2023 to provide a realistic and comprehensive picture of the current status of the socio-economic development model based on science, technology and innovation of each locality. Thereby, providing the basis and evidence of strengths, weaknesses, potential factors and necessary conditions to promote socio-economic development based on science, technology and innovation of each locality.

2024 is the third year that the Ministry of Science and Technology organizes the Ceremony to respond to the World Innovation and Creativity Day with the goal of creating a strong influence on the awareness of agencies, organizations and communities, calling on organizations and individuals to join hands to promote innovation activities; Promote the development of the national innovation system with close connection between the state sector; production, business and investment sectors; research, education, training and society.

At the ceremony, Ms. Pauline Tamesis, United Nations Resident Coordinator and Head of United Nations Agencies in Vietnam, said: “Vietnam’s vision for innovation, technology and digital transformation has been increasingly enhanced and has shown remarkable progress. Notably, Vietnam ranked 46th out of 132 countries, leading the lower middle-income countries in the Global Science and Technology Index 2023. This progress is crucial for Vietnam to achieve its vision of becoming a high-income developed country by 2045 and the United Nations supports Vietnam’s journey towards this goal.

This year’s theme is “INSPIRE – Inspire”, reflecting the important role of education in nurturing the creative minds of the younger generation, especially empowering young people in the fields of innovation such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics. However, innovation is not limited to high-tech fields but needs to be inclusive by creating conditions for the development of grassroots innovators, ethnic minorities and young people”.

Currently, in Vietnam, the legal system on intellectual property is increasingly improved, creating motivation to promote and support innovation activities, applying scientific and technological research results to production and business, contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.

Research, technology transfer, application and innovation activities are of interest to ministries, sectors and localities and promoted through national science and technology projects, programs and tasks. According to the World Bank, Vietnam still has much room to promote innovation in enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises.

In the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, innovation is considered a new driving force for rapid and sustainable development of the country. According to experts, Vietnam needs to focus on developing high-quality human resources and improving research capacity on innovation. To achieve the goals, in the coming time, it is necessary to remove some difficulties and obstacles in mechanisms and policies for developing innovation and creative skills, and solve urgent practical problems.

Minister Huynh Thanh Dat also emphasized that, in addition to the achieved results, Vietnam's innovation capacity needs to continue to be improved more strongly in the coming period, in order to directly contribute to increasing labor productivity and product quality, protecting the environment and sustainable development.

Thereby, organizing the National Innovation Day 2024 Ceremony aims to: Raise awareness of the role of creativity and innovation in socio-economic development, building a sustainable society and promoting all aspects of human development; promote and disseminate to organizations and individuals to join hands in promoting innovation activities; promote the development of the national innovation system with close connection between the state sector; production, business and investment sectors; research, education, training and society sectors; Launch a series of innovation activities in 2024.