Australian Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat and CSIRO Director General Doug Hilton exchanged the Minutes of Cooperation in the field of science, technology and innovation on the morning of March 8.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Co-Minister of Foreign Affairs Tim Watts witnessed the handover ceremony. According to the memorandum, the two sides will cooperate in seven main areas: encouraging joint research activities; exchanging information, documents and transferring technology; supporting training; co-financing joint research projects; encouraging joint publication of cooperation results; supporting the implementation of cooperation programs and identifying new areas of cooperation.
CSIRO is the Australian Government's science and technology agency, established in 1916. It is one of the world's largest multidisciplinary science and technology organisations, with 5,500 employees and 57 facilities across Australia and representative offices in the US, Chile, France, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. CSIRO contributes approximately 4.5 billion Australian dollars to the Australian economy.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Co-Minister of Foreign Affairs Tim Watts witnessed the awarding ceremony. Photo: Nhat Bac
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that Australia and Vietnam should cooperate in research on science, technology and innovation for the benefit of both countries and contribute to solving global issues. The two countries have established diplomatic relations at the highest level - a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, in which one of the "6 more points" is to promote cooperation in science and technology, innovation, digital transformation and green transformation.
According to the Vietnamese Government leader, CSIRO's orientation of focusing on technology, digital transformation, green transformation, climate change response, agriculture... is consistent with Vietnam's development policies. He suggested that the two sides develop specific projects from Australia's $2 billion investment fund for Southeast Asia; and wished to cooperate with CSIRO to implement practical cooperation programs and projects, focusing on key areas, bringing specific results.
"In the process of cooperation, it is inevitable that there will be problems. The important thing is that both sides work together to solve them and make efforts to achieve more success than failure," he said, asking localities, ministries and sectors to develop programs and projects to invite CSIRO to cooperate. The Vietnamese government will have management policies to ensure that programs and projects are implemented smoothly.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Co-Minister of Foreign Affairs Tim Watts and Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat at the working session on the morning of March 8. Photo: Nhat Bac
CSIRO Director General Doug Hilton said that the world today is facing many difficulties and challenges. Australia and Vietnam are no exception, and cannot solve the problem alone. Therefore, scientists working together to solve the problem will bring better results than individual solutions.
Mr. Doug Hilton said he was very happy to cooperate with Vietnam in science and technology such as the shrimp industry program in the Mekong Delta; the program to end plastic waste; satellite observation technology; and the medical research program for cancer treatment. "Australia wants to promote achievements and build an innovative future," he said.
Co-Minister of Foreign Affairs Tim Watts reiterated the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework of the two countries, affirming that the program of supporting science, technology and innovation is a pillar. "We can promote the state management sector, helping Vietnam attract FDI in science and technology," he said.
Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat acknowledged and appreciated the Australian Government's support for the Vietnam - Australia Innovation Partnership Program (Aus4Innovation) from 2018 to present, in which CSIRO directly manages.
According to him, the signing and implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on continuing to implement cooperation activities on science, technology and innovation between the Ministry of Science and Technology and CSIRO will certainly create increasingly better conditions for scientists, science and technology organizations and businesses of the two countries in the coming time.
"Vietnam considers innovation and scientific and technological development as the driving force for socio-economic development, so we are focusing on new fields such as information technology, AI, big data, energy conversion, green conversion, especially focusing on research in semiconductor chip manufacturing, hydrogen...", said Minister Huynh Thanh Dat.
The Prime Minister visited an exhibition introducing the results of cooperation between CSIRO and Vietnam. Photo: Nhat Bac
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said that CSIRO is currently cooperating with the Vietnam National University of Agriculture on high-quality fruit and potato products. The Prime Minister has approved the Vietnam Agricultural Development Strategy and the Project to develop 1 million hectares of low-emission, high-quality rice. Vietnam's agricultural development models are all associated with green transformation.
This cooperation will help address the challenges in the agricultural sector that Vietnam is facing. In the coming time, Vietnam hopes that Australia will support the standardization of agricultural products, especially tra fish and shrimp, in which Vietnam is leading the world.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife are on an official visit to Australia from March 7 to 9.
During the period 2018 - 2022, the Aus4Innovation Program is implemented through a tripartite partnership between the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Australia's national science agency - CSIRO and the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) with a total budget of AUD 13.45 million to strengthen Vietnam's innovation system, preparing for Vietnam's economy and technology in the digital future.
The program has implemented many activities. Among them are 12 innovative solutions using high technologies to address socio-economic challenges; Building and developing 8 platforms to support innovation cooperation between research institutes and enterprises; Contributing to national policies on science, technology and innovation, as well as developing tools to build policies that contribute to creating a favorable environment to promote innovation.
From mid-2023, the Aus4Innovation Program was decided to be extended for another 5 years until 2028, increasing the funding level from AUD 13.45 million to AUD 33.5 million to support the innovation ecosystem in Vietnam.
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