Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung chairs the meeting. Photo: VNA  

Strategic technology missions

Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan described the project as a strategic, comprehensive plan for the national laboratory system, stressing the need for a new approach, innovative thinking and close inter-agency coordination.

He cited key political and legal foundations for the project, including the Politburo's Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and digital transformation, the Government’s Resolution No. 71/NQ-CP, and the 2025 Law on Science, Technology and Innovation.

Since 2000, the State has invested in 16 national key laboratories, helping strengthen research capacity and human resources. However, the system has yet to become a strategic national research infrastructure due to fragmented investment, limited scale, weak alignment with strategic technologies, and the absence of effective mechanisms for lifecycle funding, operations, shared use and performance-based evaluation.

Amid intensifying global technological competition, developing modern research infrastructure has become increasingly urgent in order to create an integrated chain from research and development to testing, refinement and commercialisation, while building core capabilities to address major challenges and strategic technology missions, reducing external dependence, avoiding overlapping investment and supporting business innovation.

Under the draft project, research infrastructure development will align with Vietnam’s science, technology and innovation strategy, focusing on strategic technologies. The system will follow a unified three-tier model, prioritising the upgrading, integration and shared use of existing facilities, while ensuring operational efficiency, accountability, data security, intellectual property protection and national interests.

It comprises three tiers - Tier A for core technologies, foundational technologies and shared national infrastructure; Tier B for applied research, technology development, system integration and prototype creation; and Tier C for testing, certification, pilot production, product refinement and commercialisation support.

By 2035, Vietnam aims to establish a modern, interconnected research infrastructure network nationwide, including 10–15 Tier A facilities, Tier B facilities supporting strategic technology missions, and Tier C facilities serving testing and market deployment. By 2045, several research centres and laboratories are expected to reach leading regional standards.

Participants from ministries, agencies and the scientific community contributed recommendations on development objectives, implementation models, spatial planning and priority solutions.

Focus on areas of comparative advantage

Commending the Ministry of Science and Technology for preparing the comprehensive draft, Dung called for further refinement to ensure effective implementation and the achievement of its objectives.

He urged the ministry to continue reviewing targets and tasks to ensure the development of a modern, synchronised and interconnected national research infrastructure capable of meeting the country’s science, technology and innovation needs. Priority should be given to strategic and breakthrough technologies that can drive national development.

The Deputy PM also requested clearer objectives, measurable outcomes and a phased implementation roadmap linked to available resources to ensure feasibility.

In the immediate term, he stressed the need to review and improve the efficiency of existing laboratories at ministries, research institutes and universities before determining priorities for future investment and upgrading.

These facilities, he noted, already possess valuable experience and capabilities and should be further upgraded, connected and developed in a complementary manner. Each institution should focus on its comparative strengths while expanding cooperation and the shared use of research infrastructure, he said.

He also instructed the Ministry of Science and Technology to coordinate closely with the Ministry of Finance in reviewing financing mechanisms, investment plans and resource allocation to ensure uninterrupted implementation and adequate funding for laboratory operations./.