Diversifying investment into science and technology
Chairman of the National Assembly Commission for Science, Technology and Environment Ho Duc Viet stressed at the opening day of the eleventh National Assembly's sixth session on Monday that investment should be diversified to further develop scientific and technological potential in order to enable a number of high-tech industries to reach a regional state-of-the-art level by 2010.
At the current sixth session of the 11th National Assembly on October 25, Mr Viet presented a report on the high-tech development in information technology, bio-technology, automation and new materials technology and the performance of high-tech zones in Vietnam.
Vietnam's IT has developed strongly in recent years. From June 2003-September 2004, the number of Internet users increased from 1.9 million to 5.4 million. IT has become an indispensable tool in the daily work of State administrative agencies and businesses. The software industry has seen positive changes. There have been innovative developments in the infrastructure of IT and telecommunication technology, with telephone subscribers increasing to 11.47 per 100 people by the end of September 2004. Optical cable has been used for the transmission network. Major cities' transmission networks have met customers' demand for diverse services.
In some areas of the bio-technology, Vietnam has reached both a regional and a global level. Vietnam has created genetically modified plant varieties in laboratories, identified the rice gene map, discovered a number of valuable genes to modify plants and mastered the technology of tissue and cell culture to produce plant varieties. Vietnam has carried out initial research on in vitro fertilisation for a number of animals, produced vaccines and bio-products; and used new techniques to quickly detect residue of insecticide and toxic substances from mushrooms, and applied micro-biotechnology in treating waste water, in environmental protection and in food processing.
In Vietnam, automation has become an urgent requirement for production establishments, especially for productivity and quality in the industrial sectors such as mechanical engineering, post and telecommunications, oil and gas, transport and communication, and textile and garment manufacturing. This has made a remarkable contribution to businesses’ growth and competitiveness.
Using automatic technology, businesses' capabilities in research and design have markedly increased.
Numerous universities have set up new courses on the basics of the automation technologies of mechatronics and telemechanics and have provided training and refresher courses on automation for about 5,000 engineers.
In the area of new material technology, a number of materials of polymer composite have reached an international standard. Many domestic and foreign companies have signed contracts to purchase the materials. Polymer composite material production has become a prosperous new economic sector with an estimated output of about 3,000 tonnes per annum.
Modern facilities have been created for manufacturing thousands of electricity generators for both domestic demands and for exports.
In addition, work has begun on a programme to research, apply and develop nano technology in Vietnam. (VNA)
