During his visit to Austria in July 2023, despite his busy schedule, President Vo Van Thuong still took time to visit the home of physicist Dr. Nguyen Duy Ha, a quantum physics expert and professor at the Vienna University of Technology.
President Vo Van Thuong visits physicist Dr. Nguyen Duy Ha in July 2023 - Photo: VNA
I think that is a great encouragement for Dr. Nguyen Duy Ha personally, and at the same time a typical story demonstrating the tradition of respecting intellectuals and talented people as well as the orientation of focusing on promoting the country's overseas intellectual resources .
Many key industries have Vietnamese experts.
Ambassador Ngo Huong Nam - Photo: DANH KHANG
In fact, recently, our country's senior leaders have been very active in visiting Vietnamese individuals abroad during their foreign trips.
The very friendly and close meetings are the most vivid proof of the policy of "more clearly demonstrating Vietnam's affection and responsibility in caring for the overseas Vietnamese community" as concluded in Conclusion No. 12-KL/TW.
I also believe that through these meetings, overseas Vietnamese feel the closeness and warmth of the Party and State leaders in particular and of their homeland and country in general.
Recently, when Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh set a requirement to train 30,000 to 50,000 engineers and 100 experts in digital transformation and semiconductor chip manufacturing, overseas Vietnamese intellectuals were considered a great source of intelligence to contribute to the country's development, especially in the fields of innovation and technology transfer.
Currently, it is estimated that there are about 600,000 intellectuals with university degrees or higher out of a total of 5.3 million Vietnamese people abroad, concentrated mainly in the US and Western European countries.
Overseas intellectuals include two groups: intellectuals from the country who go abroad to study and work, and intellectuals who are the second, third, and fourth generation children of Vietnamese people living in the country.
Vietnamese experts and intellectuals abroad work in scientific research centers, universities, technical and high-tech enterprises as well as many international organizations.
In most key industries and fields, high-tech projects from electronics, biology, new materials, new energy, information technology to aviation, space, ocean in the world... there are Vietnamese experts.
Many Vietnamese people work in the field of information technology and telecommunications. In Silicon Valley, California (USA), there are about 10,000 Vietnamese people working, including many Vietnamese-owned businesses operating in the field of information technology.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visits the Vietnamese community in Japan in May 2023 - Photo: VGP
Network of more than 1,500 highly qualified experts and intellectuals
Recently, the committee has coordinated with the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Planning and Investment in attracting overseas intellectuals.
Notable among these is the Vietnam Innovation Network (VIN), which has so far gathered more than 1,500 highly qualified Vietnamese experts and intellectuals living abroad in 20 countries and territories and has eight member networks in Europe, Germany, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan and the US.
Overseas experts and intellectuals working at the National Innovation Center are supported with visas and work permits according to simplified procedures so that they can work and contribute with peace of mind.
In recent years, Vietnamese intellectuals abroad have not only focused on their professional fields to achieve personal success, but they have also united to form associations of Vietnamese intellectuals in many countries, promoting collective strength to contribute to the community.
I can mention the Vietnam Meeting Science Association of Professor Tran Thanh Van - a French expatriate, the 4th World Conference of Young Academies organized by the Vietnam Young Academy, the Association of Overseas Intellectuals in the UK, the US and many other countries.
We are aiming to link these associations together and connect them into a domestic network, creating an attractive playground for them to interact, exchange and contribute to the country.
The value of overseas intellectuals lies not only in their professional contributions, but they can also take advantage of social relationships and prestige at home and abroad to act as a bridge to help Vietnam cooperate and integrate deeply into the international community from science to technology and economics.
Over the past time, they have also made many important contributions to help transfer knowledge, technology and train domestic science and technology human resources . Not only that, they are also a bridge to call on international scientists and resources to contribute to the development of Vietnam.
Young overseas Vietnamese intellectuals are gradually replacing the older generation. They have the advantage of youth, creativity and agility with new technology. The resource of second and third generation overseas Vietnamese intellectuals in the overseas Vietnamese community is very large.
They are a great driving force to contribute to the host country and the home country. That comes from the sacrifice of parents for their children of Vietnamese people. The generation of parents who went abroad may have to work very hard, but they invested money and time for their children to study and advance, so the next generation is very successful.
The Committee has contributed to forming and sponsoring activities, connecting the innovation ecosystem of young Vietnamese people abroad in large-scale competitions such as VietChallenge in the US or Hack4Growth in France.
According to the 844 program on "Supporting the national innovation and startup ecosystem until 2025" of the Ministry of Science and Technology, we have made overseas competitions organized by young Vietnamese people a part of the domestic competition. When winning prizes, all young people in the country and young overseas intellectuals will participate in the final round.
We cannot ignore the start-up movement that is taking place vigorously in the new era. Start-ups always need consultants who are experts in business, science and technology.
For a long time, we have only invited domestic intellectual advisors, so the committee has cooperated with the Ministry of Science and Technology to invite more successful overseas intellectual advisors to guide the domestic startup movement.
Association of Overseas Vietnamese Intellectuals in Taiwan - Photo: State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese
Treating talent properly is essential.
In my opinion, there should be a policy to protect intellectual property rights for Vietnamese experts and intellectuals abroad.
To attract top scientists and experts, there must be a reasonable preferential policy, ensuring stable living conditions, providing housing and health insurance. It is also necessary to create favorable conditions for their children's education, so that they can work with peace of mind without worrying about other issues.
Each ministry, sector and locality needs to rely on their needs and implementation characteristics to take advantage of this policy, avoiding just responding to the movement, which is both impractical and a waste of intellectual resources.
Of course, this work needs to be closely linked to the dissemination and promotion of domestic policies along with the policy of national unity to encourage the patriotism of overseas Vietnamese.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is presiding over and coordinating with local ministries and sectors to develop a Government project on attracting resources from overseas Vietnamese, in which intellectual resources in the fields of science, high technology, and innovation will be one of the focuses.
The State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese is the "common home" of overseas Vietnamese. It will strive to connect and gather experts and intellectuals and introduce them to agencies and localities in specific fields with domestic professional agencies.
Team Green won first prize at the Hack4Growth competition in 2020 - Photo: State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs
Contribute to humanity and country
Dr. Nguyen Duy Ha is a low-temperature quantum physics expert at the Vienna University of Technology (Austria). This is the number 1 research group in Austria and one of the seven leading low-temperature research groups in Europe. During his visit to Dr. Ha's family on July 24, 2023, President Vo Van Thuong said that in addition to his intellectual contributions to human science and technology and local research facilities, Mr. Ha's scientific achievements also have the meaning of encouraging and motivating Vietnamese intellectuals in the cause of developing science and technology in the country. "That success also contributes to providing very good suggestions for the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Government, and the State in formulating policies to encourage and motivate scientists in increasingly effective research and implementation of science and technology," said President Vo Van Thuong. The head of State also hopes that with his valuable experience, Dr. Ha will strengthen connections with scientists and intellectuals in the country. From there, we combine research and propose policy improvements, while sharing our passion for finding outstanding results in science, contributing to the country's scientific and technological development.Dreaming about Hoan Kiem Lake at night
With more than 30 years of working in diplomacy, I have had many opportunities to meet with the Vietnamese community abroad in Japan, Australia, and Europe and see that they always think about their homeland.
Some people even told me that at night they sleep and still dream of walking around Hoan Kiem Lake. Their bodies are there but their souls and thoughts are still towards the Fatherland. Everyone wants to contribute to their homeland.
Over the past 20 years, the committee has successfully organized the Vietnam Summer Camp for outstanding overseas Vietnamese youth and will soon have preferential travel programs exclusively for overseas Vietnamese.
Therefore, I think organizing a Summer Entrepreneur Camp specifically for overseas intellectuals is also a good idea, through which we can attract overseas intellectuals and entrepreneurs to learn about the investment and business environment and exchange with young entrepreneurs in the country.
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