Need to change financial mechanism in scientific research

According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, Vietnam's total expenditure on research and development (R&D) in 2023 will only reach 0.4% of GDP, much lower than that of South Korea (4.8%), Thailand (1.3%) or Singapore (2.2%). Every year, the State invests an average of about 1% of the budget in scientific and technological research, however, the allocation is mainly based on administrative norms, lacking focus on key areas.

In addition, the approval and disbursement process is complicated; a state-level project usually takes one to two years to be approved, while the payment and procurement process for equipment and materials must go through many complicated stages. This makes many scientists race against time to complete their projects, even having to use their own money to advance the funding.

Dr. Nguyen Quan, former Minister of Science and Technology, said that the three main bottlenecks of Vietnam's science and technology are financial mechanisms, investment methods, and personnel policies, of which financial mechanisms are "the bottleneck of bottlenecks". Inappropriate financial mechanisms are hindering development and reducing the effectiveness of investment in science and technology, discouraging scientists, and even causing brain drain.

Also concerned about this issue, Associate Professor, Dr. Phan Tien Dung, Head of the Department of Technology Application and Deployment, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, expressed his opinion: Financial policies in science and technology management are complicated and lack of uniformity, which is a major barrier to scientific research. In addition, the inadequacies in legal documents related to the division of profits from the commercialization of scientific research results are also a matter of concern.

The Law on Science and Technology stipulates that researchers are entitled to at least 30% of the profits from commercialization results, while Decree No. 70/2018/ND-CP stipulates that the profits from commercialization of research results must be returned in full to the State to cover investment costs. For example, a project with 100% funding must be returned almost completely to the State when commercialized, and scientists will not receive anything from their scientific research results. Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo clearly states: It is necessary to reform the financial management mechanism in the implementation of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation tasks, and to simplify administrative procedures to the maximum extent.

The State needs to consider increasing the budget for scientific research, especially in potential fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), renewable energy, biomedicine and biotechnology...

Have an open approach, apply creativity, allow for piloting of new practical problems. Accept risks, venture capital and delays in scientific research, technology development, and innovation. To remove bottlenecks in scientific research, we need to carry out many different tasks synchronously. One of the important tasks is to build a public information system on research budgets.

The State needs to consider increasing the budget for scientific research, especially in potential areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), renewable energy, biomedicine and biotechnology... In addition, authorities need to reform the process of handling administrative procedures, simplify procedures for requesting funding and approving projects; change the way the budget is allocated; transfer ownership of research results to the host units, and at the same time allow scientists to participate in the management and operation of technology-originating enterprises (spinoffs); need to unblock science and technology funds of enterprises; encourage the establishment of venture capital funds.

Accepting risks and investing in ventures will create new impetus for scientists to engage in research and create many products for practical application. Along with that, it is necessary to build a specific mechanism for scientific and technological research funds, which will be allocated directly according to the annual budget capacity.

In this way, funds from the funds will be provided in a timely manner according to the progress of the approved tasks, transferred automatically and settled once upon the end of the research contract. This approach meets the timeliness of research activities, creates favorable conditions for scientists and is consistent with international practices. The State Budget Law and other tax laws need to soon complete regulations on Venture Capital Funds to mobilize capital for science, technology and startups.

Management agencies need to trust and create favorable conditions for scientists and change management thinking towards accepting risks in research, sharing failures with scientists to create a foundation for them to confidently accept tasks, especially tasks ordered by the State.

Removing financial bottlenecks in scientific research is a necessary and urgent task to promote the development of science and technology. By improving transparency, increasing budgets, accepting risks and simplifying administrative procedures, creating a favorable scientific research environment, Vietnamese science will grow with the country.