Minister Nguyen Manh Hung: Innovation must become a way of life for Vietnamese people

This is the strong message emphasized by Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung at the Ceremony to respond to the World Creativity and Innovation Day 2025 held on the afternoon of April 21.

The Minister affirmed that building a culture of innovation for all people, encouraging the spirit of "dare to think, dare to do, dare to innovate" is the key for Vietnam to maximize its creative potential, make breakthroughs in the digital age and achieve sustainable development goals.

According to the Minister, building a strong culture of innovation, encouraging exploration and accepting challenges will be the key driving force for Vietnam to break through and develop rapidly in the context of globalization and the 4.0 industrial revolution.

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung at the Ceremony to respond to World Creativity and Innovation Day 2025. (Photo: Organizing Committee)

In his speech, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung stated that Vietnamese people have two important strengths: Good STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) thinking, so they do science and technology well, and good application ability, so they do innovation well. These are all core competencies in the era of science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation.

"Innovation is the driving force for development, promoting innovation is promoting development, planning innovation is planning the future. Innovating scientific and technological activities to focus on solving major national problems. If we want creativity and innovation to become universal, we must comprehensively transform digitally, digitize the entire real world, and bring all activities to the digital environment.

The digital environment is the ideal environment for any idea to be realized as quickly as possible, because it is non-physical, non-distance and non-contact. Vietnamese innovation must be placed in the context of national digital transformation," the Minister emphasized.

According to the Minister, the Day of Creativity and Innovation initiated by the United Nations is both an occasion to honor unique ideas and to recognize the process of turning those ideas into practical solutions, bringing value to society. Taking Leonardo da Vinci's birthday as a symbol, the United Nations wants to convey the message about the potential creativity in each person and its role in all fields.

For Vietnam, innovation is not limited to the scientific community or high-tech enterprises. It is the spirit of daring to think, daring to do, daring to innovate that needs to be spread to all industries, from farmers improving production tools to students being creative in their studies. Connecting innovation with sustainable development goals is considered a key factor for Vietnam to be able to "leap-frog" technology and shorten the gap with developed countries.

" In the context of limited resources, innovation is an important lever to help Vietnam make the most of the world's scientific and technological achievements, combined with the creativity and adaptability of Vietnamese people to create solutions suitable to practical conditions ," the Minister affirmed.

He also pointed out that, unlike basic science and technology which are universal, innovation has a strong national character, creates specific competitiveness and contributes directly to economic growth.

To realize the goal of turning innovation into a way of life, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said that the Ministry of Science and Technology has been assigned to develop a National Startup Project, focusing on forming a culture of innovation among the entire population. This includes encouraging exploratory thinking, accepting failure as part of the creative process, and creating an innovation ecosystem where every idea has the opportunity to be realized.

The Minister also emphasized the role of comprehensive digital transformation in promoting innovation. The digital environment is considered a "fertile ground" for creative ideas to germinate and develop rapidly, without being limited by space and time.

''April 21 is both the Global Creativity and Innovation Day and the Vietnam Innovation Culture Day. Vietnam not only develops science and technology but also nurtures a culture of innovation for all people, k Arousing the spirit of national creativity in the digital age, expanding innovation beyond the laboratory to businesses, schools, offices, communities and localities.

Every year on this occasion, we will organize Innovation Week, launch the movement "Each citizen has an idea for improvement, each civil servant innovates from the smallest things", Minister Nguyen Manh Hung affirmed.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung believes that building an innovative culture based on the unique socio-cultural foundation of Vietnam will be the decisive factor for the success of the breakthrough in science and technology development, innovation and digital transformation, realizing the aspiration of a strong and prosperous Vietnam.

Concerns about the rate of women 'indifferent' to STEM

Ms. Pauline Tamesis, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, emphasized that currently the rate of women wishing to pursue STEM careers in Vietnam is only 10%, significantly lower than the rate of 24% among men.

Ms. Tamesis also pointed out some other notable gaps in the context of Vietnam's digital transformation. Specifically, in rural areas, the rate of people using the internet is 10% lower than in urban areas. Notably, in remote areas, the rate of women owning smartphones is up to 26% lower than that of men.

However, Vietnam has identified digital transformation and innovation as a top strategic priority, as demonstrated by Resolution 57 and its commitment to spend 3% of the national budget on science, technology and innovation. Currently, Vietnam's digital economy accounts for 18.3% of GDP and has the fastest growth rate in Southeast Asia, along with near-universal broadband coverage and rapid development of 5G networks.

Ms. Pauline Tamesis, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, shared at the Ceremony to respond to the World Creativity and Innovation Day 2025. (Photo: Organizing Committee)

The UN representative stressed the importance of bold but responsible innovation, calling for connecting people, not just devices. Ms. Tamesis recommended that Vietnam work together to build a culture where innovation and creativity become a way of life for every individual and organization. This includes creating an environment that encourages new ideas, celebrates creativity, and integrates innovative thinking into daily activities to drive progress and enrich communities.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung at the exhibition area of ​​World Creativity and Innovation Day 2025. (Photo: Organizing Committee)

April 21 of each year is chosen by the United Nations (UN) as the World Creativity and Innovation Day 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.

2025 is the fourth year that the Ministry of Science and Technology organizes the Ceremony in response to World Creativity and Innovation Day, with the goal of promoting and popularizing in the community and the whole society to join hands to promote innovation activities; create a culture of innovation in the whole society; raise awareness of the role of science and technology, innovation and digital transformation in sustainable socio-economic development and promote all aspects of human development.

The holiday also promotes the development of science and technology, innovation and digital transformation, so that science and technology becomes the driving force of the economy, innovation is the main driver of growth, digital transformation is a strategic tool to enhance national innovation capacity; promote the development of the national innovation system, strengthen the connection between the business sector - State - institutes/schools - startups - investors - community with the role of digital platforms connecting technology supply - demand, experts - ideas.

Within the framework of the Ceremony, stories about innovation will be shared by representatives of businesses and through reports on innovation; agencies and units will launch a series of tasks and activities to be implemented in the coming time to strongly promote innovation in all agencies, organizations and people.

Hien Phan

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/bo-truong-nguyen-manh-hung-doi-moi-sang-tao-phai-thanh-loi-song-cua-nguoi-viet-ar939037.html