Science, technology and innovation

KHCN và đổi mới sáng tạo-Chìa khóa vạn năng giải quyết các thách thức toàn cầu - Ảnh 1. — Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha speaks at the discussion session - Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha assessed that the world is at a historic moment to transform its economic model, in which science, technology and innovation are the universal keys to solving global challenges.

KHCN và đổi mới sáng tạo-Chìa khóa vạn năng giải quyết các thách thức toàn cầu - Ảnh 2. — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel welcomes Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha before the opening of the conference - Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi

"If the key to the fight against COVID-19 is the vaccine, then the 'vaccine' in the effort to combat climate change is science, technology and green hydrogen. The 'vaccine' for global issues is cooperation, solidarity, science, technology and innovation," the Deputy Prime Minister further analyzed.

KHCN và đổi mới sáng tạo-Chìa khóa vạn năng giải quyết các thách thức toàn cầu - Ảnh 3. — Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha attended the discussion session right after the opening speech of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel - Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi

Four key cooperation directions

From Vietnam's practice, the Deputy Prime Minister proposed a number of key cooperation orientations for the G77 Group and China.

Firstly, in the context of increasing global challenges, there is an urgent need to promote international cooperation, including South-South and North-South cooperation, and promote multilateralism, with the spirit that instead of encirclement and embargo, international solidarity should be further strengthened in solving global problems.

Second, it is necessary to harmonize intellectual property with the ethical category of responsibility for sharing and transferring technology for humanity, together solving global problems such as epidemics, poverty, climate change, and emission reduction.

Within the framework of North-South cooperation, it is necessary to promote cooperation, take advantage of the capital and technology strengths of developed countries; form credit guarantee mechanisms, provide preferential capital for technology development projects; build legal frameworks for research and development (R&D) to enhance capacity for developing countries.

Within the framework of South-South cooperation, science and technology need to become key areas of cooperation in the new period.

The G77 countries hope that China will continue to further strengthen support and cooperation with the G77 countries in this field.

Third, promote human resource training and development, promote innovation and creativity, and take people as the main subject and center, with young people as the vanguard. The G77 and China need to increase youth exchanges, share experiences in entrepreneurship, innovation, and application of science, technology and innovation.

Fourth, it is necessary to create policy and investment frameworks, especially in public-private partnerships, to create an ecosystem for research, transfer and development of scientific and technological products between the State, enterprises, scientists and research and training institutions. Focus on promoting research and development in new fields from the green transformation and digital transformation processes such as materials technology, quantum, biology, energy, marine technology, smart infrastructure, and new economic forms.

The Deputy Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam strongly supports Cuba's initiatives on organizing the Science and Technology Ministers' Conference every three years and choosing September 16 every year as the Science and Technology Day of Southern Countries.

The Deputy Prime Minister shared that for Vietnam, science and technology are considered a top national policy and a strategic breakthrough. Vietnam is currently one of the four leading countries promoting a fair energy transition model with the goal of becoming a regional green energy transition center. The Deputy Prime Minister expressed his belief that the results of the Conference will contribute to promoting green transformation, digital transformation, and strong application of scientific and technological achievements to create a solid driving force for socio-economic growth and development.

On this occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha congratulated and highly appreciated the role and responsible contributions of the brotherly country of Cuba in its capacity as Chair of the G77 Group in 2023 and China for its efforts to overcome many difficulties and challenges, gathering representatives of 80% of the population, two-thirds of the countries in the world to discuss and strengthen cooperation in response to urgent global issues.

KHCN và đổi mới sáng tạo-Chìa khóa vạn năng giải quyết các thách thức toàn cầu - Ảnh 4. — Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez emphasized the strategic significance of promoting solidarity and international cooperation, especially in the fields of science, technology, and innovation to address global challenges - Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi

Raising the voice of developing countries

The Summit is an initiative of Cuba in its capacity as Chair of the G77 and China in 2023, with the participation of Heads of State, Government and Government Leaders of nearly 130 G77 member countries, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and leaders of many international organizations. Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha led the Vietnamese delegation to the Summit.

KHCN và đổi mới sáng tạo-Chìa khóa vạn năng giải quyết các thách thức toàn cầu - Ảnh 5. — Heads of delegations attending the 2023 G77 and China Summit take a group photo - Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi

With the theme "Current development challenges: The role of science, technology and innovation", the conference focused on exchanging and proposing solutions to strengthen cooperation, promote the role of the G77 Group and China in promoting economic recovery and implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

This is an important event taking place right before the High-Level Week of the 78th United Nations General Assembly, expected to contribute to raising the voice of developing countries in the discussion content of the session.

In his opening speech at the Conference, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez emphasized the strategic significance of promoting solidarity and international cooperation, especially in the fields of science, technology and innovation, to address global challenges. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized the importance of the G77 and China; called for equality for Southern countries; and asked developed countries to quickly implement their commitments to strengthen preferential financial policies and provide climate finance to support developing countries to overcome current development challenges.

The conference will continue until the morning of September 16. Leaders of the countries will continue to discuss measures to promote cooperation in science, technology and innovation among southern countries.

* Within the framework of the Conference, the Deputy Prime Minister had many meetings and contacts, including with the Heads of Delegations from Laos, Cambodia, China, Mongolia, Venezuela, Yemen and the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Through the exchange, the countries assessed Vietnam as a successful example in preventing and fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, achieving impressive achievements in socio-economic recovery and development. The two sides discussed measures to strengthen bilateral cooperation and at multilateral mechanisms.