VietNamNet Bridge - Intellectual resources, especially overseas Vietnamese, will be mobilized through policies that guarantee not only material interests but also related rights, from intellectual property to the patent, the invention created in Vietnam.

It was confirmed by the Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan at a meeting with overseas Vietnamese experts in HCM City on February 17.

Barriers to recruitment

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan met with overseas Vietnamese experts in HCM City on February 17. Photo: Bao Cong Thuong

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Binh, Deputy Director of the HCM City Center for Biotechnology, said since the center was established in October 2012, it has bravely employed an overseas Vietnamese as its deputy director, who was offered special incentives beyond the current regulations.

After a few years of operation, the center has successfully produced vaccines for fish, particularly catfish, to serve fish farms in the Mekong Delta. Thanks to the locally-made vaccine products, Vietnam did not have to pay around $300 million/year to import vaccines as before.

However, Binh complained about difficulties in commercialization of the center’s products and the current management mechanism that hinders research activities.

The center designed and submitted to HCMCity authorities special financial and management policy that enables promotion of research activities through mobilizing brainpower of overseas Vietnamese and got approval. Binh said the center’s success relied on this policy.

Mr. Ngo Dac Thuan, Deputy Director in charge of technology of Saigon Silicon City, said the biggest barrier hindering overseas Vietnamese from returning to Vietnam is cumbersome administrative procedures and policies, which are changed often.

Thuan complained about the current policy that bans import of equipment and machines that have been used for over five years. He said this policy is unsuitable for some industries.

For instance, for the hardware industry to make circuit boards, Vietnamese firms have to import machinery and they just need secondhand machines, because of the long lifetime of the devices. It would be a waste to import new equipment.

In addition, under the law, the VAT rate on imported hi-tech equipment is 0%, but in fact importers have to immediately pay a 10% VAT and will get a refund a year later.

Thuan said that many businesses had to spend tens of millions of US dollars to import equipment. The amount of money being "requisitioned" is quite large.

Lack of policies

Chairman of the Liaison Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Nguyen Phu Binh said there was no official statistics of brain contribution of overseas Vietnamese to the country. But if their contribution is increased, it willstill not b enough because the resources and potential of overseas Vietnam is enormous.

With the ratio of 10% of 4 million overseas Vietnamese holding a master's degree or higher, the forces of overseas Vietnamese intellectuals is about 400,000. The number of 200-300 overseas Vietnamese intellectuals returning home each year to do business is too small, Binh said.

He admitted that the biggest obstacle for the return of overseas Vietnamese is administrative procedures. “The State still lacks an open and transparent administrative policy for overseas Vietnamese," Binh said.

Mr. Ngo Dac Thuan said that the government has always insisted to give incentives to overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs but it  has been different in reality.

For example, in the Ho Chi Minh City High-tech Park, foreigner investors like Intel and Samsung enjoy a lot of incentives, even preferences beyond the common policy (land rent is VND0), but the land rent for Silicon City, a project of overseas Vietnamese is $0.8/m2. With a total area of 52 hectares, the land rent is quite huge.

Ho Chi Minh City has set up a number of funds to support overseas Vietnamese hi-tech enterprises but for more than five years, many overseas Vietnamese enterprises have not accessed the funds.

Thuan said that the authorities at all levels must rebuild confidence among overseas Vietnamese scientists, so they have the motivation to continue pursuing investment projects in Vietnam.

Vietnam to create new policies

Speaking at the meeting, Minister of Science - Technology Nguyen Quan affirmed that cumbersome administrative procedural and unnecessary obstacles in the research, training and commercialization of products of the scientific sector will end in the near future.

Minister Quan said that not only the government but local sci-tech departments and research institutes and universities will also make direct connections with the resources of overseas Vietnam intellectuals.

"Through specific projects, overseas Vietnamese intellectual resources will be guaranteed not only in terms of material interests but also related rights, from intellectual property to the patent and inventions created in Vietnam," Quan said.

As for the national level start-up project, he said, the Ministry of Science and Technology has the national scientific-technological development fund specializing in financing for basic research and the national fund for technological innovation supporting enterprises in technological innovation.

The Ministry is drafting the national venture fund and the law on assistance for small and medium enterprises, which is expected to be issued this year. It has a chapter on the use of venture funds in the national start-up program.

Tran Cham