Continue to remove obstacles and create motivation for science and technology development

Completing the legal framework for science, technology and innovation is an urgent requirement.

Current legal regulations still have many points that have not kept up with the pace of development of science and technology, leading to barriers in research, application and commercialization of research results.

Promoting the development of digital technology industry

Vietnam's digital technology industry currently has a revenue growth rate twice that of GDP growth, contributing about 6-6.5% of GDP. This is a field with export strengths, suitable to the characteristics and capacity of Vietnam.

The draft Law on Digital Technology Industry is being drafted and is expected to be submitted to the 15th National Assembly for consideration and approval at the 9th session to address the shortcomings and inadequacies of the Law on Information Technology; creating a legal corridor to promote the development of the digital technology industry into a platform industry.

The drafting of the law requires very high quality in the context that on December 22, 2024, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 57 on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation.

Implementing Resolution No. 57, Resolution No. 193/2025/NQ-QH15 (Resolution No. 193) on piloting a number of special mechanisms and policies to create breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation, the issue of financial support for the construction of the first factory to serve research, training and production of semiconductor chips has been raised.

These are considered strategic steps in the process of implementing the goal of transforming Vietnamese digital technology enterprises mainly from assembly and processing to innovation, design, integration, production and mastery of core technology.

AI is another important area that the draft law is concerned with regulating. Building principles of promotion and management to limit risks while making good use of the benefits that AI brings is a mandatory requirement.

Nguyen Phuong Tuan, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, said: "The draft law must clearly define the object of promoting the development of artificial intelligence (AI) as building a data system and information infrastructure; at the same time, it needs to be managed at different levels.

Consider promoting at the lowest risk level such as in family activities. The higher the risk, the tighter the management, especially issues related to health, people, national defense and security.

One issue that is receiving great attention is digital assets, including cryptocurrencies. Digital assets in the latest draft law have been separated into a separate chapter and are defined as a legal type of asset under the provisions of the Civil Code, which can be traded and invested.

This is an important step forward because cryptocurrency has long been in a legal "gray area" in Vietnam. Lawmakers have accepted the content of Resolution No. 57 and the guiding viewpoint of General Secretary To Lam at the meeting with the Central Policy and Strategy Committee on February 24, 2025: There should be no delay, no loss of opportunities, no distance or discrimination from new financial forms as well as modern transaction methods.

Dr. Dang Minh Tuan, Chairman of the Vietnam Blockchain Alliance, said that in the long term, there needs to be a separate law project for digital assets, because this is also a very new type of asset that needs very specific and strict regulations to limit risks for people.

Perfecting the innovation ecosystem

Resolution No. 193 of the National Assembly promulgates 12 pilot mechanisms and policies to institutionalize Resolution No. 57 into practice for issues that can be implemented soon, without waiting for the National Assembly to pass laws.

According to Professor, Dr. Hoang Van Cuong, former Vice President of the National Economics University, mechanisms and policies such as accepting risks, allocating expenditures, and allocating funds according to the fund mechanism have truly removed barriers that have made many scientists hesitate and many scientific projects wither from the "egg" for so long.

According to Mr. Nguyen Phuong Tuan, the policy mechanisms on ownership, management and use of scientific research and technological development results have opened a path for commercialization. This regulation will remove the bottleneck in valuation before transferring rights.

The draft Law on Science, Technology and Innovation is expected to overcome the shortcomings of the 2013 Law on Science and Technology, create a solid legal basis, and continue to institutionalize Resolution No. 57.

Accordingly, the breakthrough policy mechanisms in Resolution No. 193 continue to be inherited and regulated in more detail, ensuring effective implementation; approaching and promoting the issue of decentralization, delegation of authority, reforming management methods, implementing scientific and technological tasks suitable for each type of research; expanding the scope of regulation to the non-public sector, reforming the financial management mechanism, simplifying administrative procedures to the maximum; granting autonomy in using funds for scientific research and technology development in accordance with the spirit of Resolution No. 57; supplementing regulations on the controlled testing mechanism (sandbox) to create a legal corridor for testing new technologies that are not yet regulated or prohibited by law.

Faced with the risk that the shortage of high-quality human resources could become a bottleneck, the draft law has also developed a chapter, consisting of 8 articles focusing on providing directions to solve this problem, attracting and developing talent.

In the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution taking place strongly, perfecting the legal framework for science, technology and innovation is an urgent requirement. The two draft laws under review not only concretize the orientation of Resolution No. 57 but also help Vietnam reposition its role and position on the global science and technology map.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tiep-tuc-thao-go-tao-dong-luc-phat-trien-khoa-hoc-cong-nghe-post865608.html