General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and State President To Lam, accompanied by a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, on May 30 visited the Singaporean Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)’s Model Factory and the Singapore Rail Test Centre as part of his state visit to Singapore.
At the A*STAR Model Factory, one of Singapore’s flagship research and application facilities for smart industry, innovation and digital transformation in production, General Secretary and President Lam expressed his impression of Singapore’s approach in creating conditions for enterprises to directly test technologies before making large-scale investments.
He described the model as a highly practical development-oriented approach in which the State shares initial risks, enterprises are encouraged to innovate boldly, and scientists work closely with production and productivity demands. According to him, this is also the direction Vietnam is pursuing in its science and technology policies.
“If we choose only safety, there will be no breakthroughs,” he said, noting that Vietnam is improving mechanisms to encourage responsible risk-taking in scientific research and technology experimentation.
The Party and State leader affirmed that Vietnam considers science, technology, innovation and digital transformation as strategic drivers for rapid and sustainable development. He stressed that the country is working to improve institutions, develop high-quality human resources and strengthen national technological capabilities to participate more deeply in global value chains.
The country is also entering a new stage of development with the aspiration of building a knowledge-, technology- and innovation-based economy, recognising that rapid and sustainable growth requires strong investment in science and technology, human resources and advanced production capabilities.
The top leader, therefore, expressed Vietnam’s desire to establish practical technology centres where businesses can access experts, test production processes and train workers in real-world industrial environments, particularly in supporting industries, semiconductors and high technology.
He voiced his confidence that cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, smart manufacturing, innovation and hi-tech workforce training will continue to expand strongly in the years ahead.
Later, at the Singapore Rail Test Centre, the General Secretary and President visited its maintenance facility for metro systems and described the centre as a valuable reference model for Vietnam as the country accelerates the development and operation of urban railway networks.
He highlighted Singapore’s experience in training local engineers capable of independently maintaining, inspecting and overhauling core technologies, as well as applying digital transformation in maintenance operations to improve efficiency and reduce costs./.
