VNU signs agreement to transfer science and technology products to 14 localities in the Northwest region

Attending the conference were comrade Nguyen Van Binh - Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Head of the Central Economic Commission; comrade Chu Ngoc Anh - Party Central Committee member, Minister of Science and Technology; comrade Hau A Lenh - Party Central Committee member, Vice President and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, former Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Northwest Steering Committee; Director of VNU, Head of the Northwest Program Nguyen Kim Son and representatives of leaders of Central Ministries/Departments/Agencies, representatives of leaders of 14 localities in the Northwest region.

Director of Hanoi National University, Head of the Northwest Program Nguyen Kim Son spoke at the Conference

In 2013, the Prime Minister approved and the Ministry of Science and Technology assigned Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) as the agency in charge of implementing the State-level Key Science and Technology Program.“Science and Technology for Sustainable Development of the Northwest Region”period 2013-2020 with the requirement "Conduct research in a comprehensive manner to provide interdisciplinary and interregional scientific arguments and solutions and transfer knowledge to contribute to the sustainable development of the Northwest region.This is an interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, highly targeted and applicable science and technology program, aiming to provide scientific and practical arguments for solving the most fundamental and pressing issues arising in the development practice of the Northwest. The Northwest Program has four basic objectives: Providing scientific arguments for the construction and adjustment of strategies, planning and plans for sustainable development, ensuring national defense and security in the Northwest region; Identifying scientific arguments for socio-economic development models suitable to the characteristics of sub-regions and inter-regions, contributing to improving and gradually raising the living standards of ethnic minorities in the Northwest region; Proposing and transferring appropriate scientific and technological solutions to rationally use natural resources, protect the environment, prevent and mitigate natural disasters; developing transport and information infrastructure; promoting and preserving cultural values, contributing to ensuring national defense and security in the Northwest region; Identify human resource training needs and propose appropriate training solutions for human resource development to meet the requirements of sustainable development in the Northwest region.

Director of Hanoi National University presents transfer products of the Northwest Program to representatives of the Northwest provinces

In his opening speech at the Conference, VNU Director and Head of the Northwest Program Nguyen Kim Son affirmed: After 7 years of implementation, the Program has completed its set goals, making important contributions to the development, adjustment of strategies, planning and plans for sustainable human resource, economic and social development towards protecting the environment, natural resources, ensuring security and defense in the Northwest region. The Program has coordinated and attracted 40 organizations and a total of 600 scientists to participate in leading the implementation of topics from many science and technology organizations across the country. There are 200 large scientific organizations participating in the coordination, including 12 departments and branches in the Northwest provinces. All 58 topics and projects under the program are conducted based on highly reliable databases, research methods, implementation, and approaches that are rich, diverse, modern, effective and suitable to the requirements of each task.

Comrade Chu Ngoc Anh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Science and Technology spoke at the Conference.

The program has brought valuable scientific results, serving as a basis for implementing pilot production projects and expanding the scale of research in the coming period, contributing to building, developing and effectively using local human resources, attracting other human resources, promoting the strengths of natural resources in the sustainable development strategy of the Northwest region. In addition to studies providing scientific arguments for determining strategies, development plans and breakthroughs of the Northwest region and localities, the Program has also achieved specific and practical results in: Applying science and technology to increase the value of products and growth models; Developing education - training and human resources to serve socio-economic development; Developing culture - society and ensuring national security and defense. The research results of the Northwest Program are an important basis for investment and management, not only for the country, ministries, and branches, but also for the provinces and are an urgent need for our country in the current period of innovation.

Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh assessed: These are comprehensive, interdisciplinary programs covering the fields of Social Sciences and Humanities, Natural Sciences and Science and Technology, aiming to clearly identify the basic values ​​for sustainable development for these three particularly important geopolitical regions in the period of promoting industrialization and modernization of the country after 30 years of renovation. The comprehensive, systematic, multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary viewpoint is expressed in the combination and integration of social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and science and technology based on a fundamental and consistent approach, which is to bring science and technology to serve the sustainable development of the region in terms of economy, culture, society and environment, in conjunction with ensuring security and national defense.

For the Northwest region, the Program “Science and technology for sustainable development of the Northwest region"The 2013-2020 period also has an important mission of contributing to the implementation of Conclusion No. 26-KL/TW dated August 2, 2012 of the Politburo on continuing to implement Resolution No. 37-NQ/TW dated July 1, 2004 of the Politburo on the direction of socio-economic development and ensuring national defense and security in the Northern Midlands and Mountains region until 2020.

However, the research results of the Program also show that the Northwest region has many potentials and advantages but has not been explored and promoted well for sustainable development. The Northwest is still a region with many socio-economic difficulties, and is increasingly affected by climate change. In the coming time, continuing to implement scientific research and technology development activities will contribute to creating a foundation, a strong knowledge - technology - culture - society lever, making an important contribution to the sustainable development of the Northwest region, meeting the aspirations of the people of all ethnic groups in the region.

Comrade Hau A Lenh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, former Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Northwest Steering Committee spoke at the Conference.

Comrade Hau A Lenh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, former Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Northwest Steering Committee - suggested that in the coming time, the Program Management Board, the Ministry of Science and Technology and related units propose to the Government to continue implementing phase 2 of the Program to create momentum for regional development as well as overcome shortcomings and limitations in local socio-economic development, thereby ensuring sustainable regional development. He especially noted that the Northwest Program needs to focus on researching and developing applied scientific and technological products, exploiting the potentials and strengths of the region, creating products with their own brands and characteristics, aiming at developing local livelihoods.

Comrade Nguyen Van Binh - Member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Head of the Central Economic Commission spoke at the Conference.

Comrade Nguyen Van Binh - Member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Head of the Central Economic Commission spoke highly of some of the results that the Program has achieved from 55 topics and 3 pilot production projects such as: 42 demonstration and testing models; 26 technologies and models transferred for application; 31 topics with the participation of enterprises and localities; a digitalized interdisciplinary database of 14 fields; scientific arguments, recommendations, etc. serving the construction and adjustment of strategies, planning and sustainable development plans, ensuring national defense and security in the Northwest region; livelihood models, farming, processing, production and business, training and human resource development, etc. have been researched and promptly transferred to a number of Committees, Ministries, branches, People's Committees (PCs) of 14 provinces and enterprises in the Northwest region.

He also highly appreciated the timely synthesis and selection of the results achieved from the Program by VNU to contribute to the draft Political Report of the Party Congress of 14 Northwestern provinces for the 2015-2020 term; providing advice on socio-economic development for the 2020-2025 period for the Northwestern provinces; in particular, the Program has made a number of proposals on "Perspectives and solutions for sustainable development of the Northern Midlands and Mountains region to 2030 and vision to 2045" serving the Project to summarize 15 years of implementing Resolution No. 37-NQ/TW on "Orientation for socio-economic development and national defense and security assurance in the Northern Midlands and Mountains region until 2010" Chaired by the Central Economic Committee.

Signing documents to transfer science and technology products of the Northwest Program to 14 provinces in the Northwest region

In the spirit of comprehensively evaluating the achievements as well as the difficulties and limitations of the Program in the recent period, comrade Nguyen Van Binh proposed:

One is,Although there has been a good investment in research in the period 2013-2020, some studies are still academic; understanding of the Region is not yet profound; models built and deployed in the Region have not had enough time to fully develop their values; there is not enough time and financial resources to develop transfer projects with the participation of localities and enterprises in the direction of the Region and regional linkages. The tasks in the field of agriculture and forestry that have been and are being deployed need more time to continue to develop and expand, promoting the value of scientific and technological contributions.

Delegates visit the exhibition of science and technology products of the Northwest Program

Two is,The results achieved by the Program in the recent period also show that the Northwest is one of the regions where development practices are posing many complex problems. These are the phenomenon of degradation and depletion of natural resources, environmental pollution due to ineffective exploitation and use of resources, especially minerals; the poverty rate is still the highest in the country; the quality of human resources is still low; where social evils and crimes of drug smuggling, trafficking of women and children, smuggling across borders, etc. are increasing rapidly. The area also always contains risks leading to discrimination, division, and conflict for hostile forces to take advantage of to sabotage the regime and national security, etc. This implies that continuing to organize and implement research is based on the practical needs of the Region and the sustainable development of the Northwest is also the sustainable development of the whole country.

Some medicinal products are the result of component projects in the Northwest Program.

Third,in the era of industrial revolution 4.0,Science, technology and culture have become the most important and direct resources for the rapid and sustainable development of all countries, ethnic groups, regions and localities. Similarly, for our country, especially for the Northwest region, to find optimal and harmonious solutions to immediate and long-term development problems; to maximize potentials and advantages to quickly narrow the development gap compared to advanced countries in the region and in the world, the only choice is to promote intellectual resources and human resources, that is, to rely on the strength of science, technology and culture.

Comrade Nguyen Van Binh at the exhibition of science and technology products of the Northwest Program

Four is, the implementation time of the Program in the past period was short, while the implementation area was large, with many complex difficulties. The Government, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance need to consider continuing to prioritize investment funding for the Program in the 2021-2025 period, especially for topics and projects to deploy applications and replicate models of transferring scientific and technological products into production and the lives of ethnic minorities and agencies and enterprises in the Northwest region. In the implementation process, it is necessary to mobilize diverse resources, both domestic and international; it is necessary to clearly define the coordination mechanism to integrate topics and projects of the Northwest Program with other socio-economic development programs, especially from international cooperation resources.

Delegates take souvenir photos at the exhibition

Five is,In August 2019, the Central Economic Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the two National Universities. Within that framework, VNU has actively participated in many tasks and projects chaired by the Central Economic Commission. In the coming time, VNU needs to continue to promote its strengths, concretize cooperation programs in a tighter and more practical manner, attract more participation from prestigious experts and scientists both inside and outside VNU; coordinate with the Central Economic Commission to propose new and breakthrough policies and strategies to promote socio-economic development in the Northwest region in particular and Vietnam in general in the new context.