Creating a market to connect demand and supply of technological products will help develop the technology industry, according to experts.

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) recently held several supply-demand connecting programmes to boost Viet Nam’s science and technology development.

In 2016-17, 21 technology transfer contracts and memorandums of understanding were signed. The technology and equipment exhibition Techmart, which provides information for about 500 requests from businesses on technology, equipment and consultancy, saw VND158 billion worth of contracts signed in the same period.

Pham Duc Nghiem, deputy head of the Market Development and Science-Technology Enterprises Department at MoST, said that there had been many local technology product trading markets.

However, those markets had not been working effectively, thus, they had not met the demand of the market for a “true” science and technology trading market, he said.

To promote such technology exchange markets, it is important to promote the role of scientific and technological enterprises, so the MoST has carried out programmes and seminars to identify the needs of enterprises.

Through those programmes, the ministry has addressed nearly 2,000 science-technology products created by both local and overseas firms that meet the demand of enterprises.

Middleman community

The network of intermediary organisations that focus on high-tech product incubation is expanding widely given the fact that the legal system is being improved and the supply of technological products from research institutes, universities, businesses and start-ups is rising.

Tran Van Tung, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, told a recent meeting that one way to promote the science and technology industry is to develop a new type of intermediary community.

He said that Viet Nam had more than 20 incubators, which support technological ideas and connect research institutes and universities and seven business support organisations.

Those organisations are located in four major cities, which are Ha Noi, HCM City, Da Nang and Can Tho. Such networks were quite new to the world and Viet Nam and they provided comprehensive solutions for technology start-ups, he said.

Nghiem said that there were many bottlenecks for the development of the Vietnamese technology industry, with authorities needing to improve the legal framework and change development models and plans.

Technological exchange plays an important role in developing the science and technology market and is the foundation for trading of technological products, he said. — VNS