In the fourth part of the roundtable talks with VietNamNet, our guests said that a special policy is needed to attract overseas talent to return to serve the country.

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Minister Phung Xuan Nha (left) and Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan

Prof. Ngo Bao Chau: Since its founding, the Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics has received a lot of attention from the Government and the Ministry of Education and Training. It operates under a special mechanism, so it always faces difficulties. But I am familiar with the difficulties.

VietNamNet: Prof. Chau has mentioned a "special mechanism". At the national level, should we build a special mechanism to attract overseas talent? 

Minister Phung Xuan Nha: I think we must have a special mechanism. This is a difficult task. We cannot immediately implement it on a large scale.

First of all, I propose to the Government to attract human resources in the fields of education and training, and science and technology, to strengthen the research capacity of institutes and universities in the country. Then it will be other areas, when we will have to call for cooperation of other ministries. Once we do it well in the fields of education and training, and science and technology, many talented people will come.

Nguyen Anh Tuan: I think we should have a specific orientation. In my opinion, those who have the creativity, ability to lead, and ideas are the essence. Then leading experts in a narrow specialization like Mr. Chau. Those are the people we need to attract.

Secondly, we have to determine which sectors we need to pay special attention to. We must choose a few industries that Vietnam can develop in the near future. I think we should have specific policies for these people.

Prof. Ngo Bao Chau: Of course we must have specific policies but how? I think the most important thing is the work.

Mr. Hoang Minh Son (left) and Prof. Ngo Bao Chau

I personally share with you that implementing work is extremely strenuous. For example, to disburse money for a research project, we have to write about 50 reports. We should assess a research project based on the final results, not by applying normal administrative procedures.

If you want some foreign professors to come to Vietnam to teach our students for a few months, then we should not ask Mr. Son to take care of that funding himself when the State can set a fund for that. 

Every year we can allocate VND5-VND10 billion for schools to invite foreign professors. We can set up committee to monitor this task and to decide whether we should invite such professors.

This is a pilot format that needs a lot of effort, not a lot of money, and it is very effective.

Minister Phung Xuan Nha: I’ve thought a lot about Mr. Chau’s idea. After all, attracting talent is the issue of grassroots units, not the state. At the macro level, the State needs to create an environment and policies to support and assist this task because the evaluation of talent is the job of grassroots units.

For instance, if the Government needs to study the impact of climate change, it must hire scientists who win bids. The bidding winners will be paid under a transparent and open policy.

The upcoming direction of our Ministry is enhancing the active role of universities and institutes under the policy of placing orders.

I think general mechanisms are very difficult to apply. The new mechanism will be the order placing mechanism. The state and enterprises place their orders. Both local and overseas scientists can compete to win the orders. They only need to show their products.

Hoang Minh Son: Universities are very happy with the autonomy mechanism but they are also worried because competition among local universities and between local and foreign universities is fierce, not only in training but also in attracting human resources.

For famous scientists, certainly Vietnamese scientists have a certain relationship with them. Their support through research topics or a research team is necessary.

But we should pay attention to the group of young people with doctorates. This force is large and they will create a good platform for us so they need initial support.

Currently, the average cost for doctoral training in Vietnam is about $100,000. We can give them $20,000 in the two first years of work so they will have a favorable start.

Minister Phung Xuan Nha: I support Son’s opinion. We have to form a new generation of domestic scientists.

I am joining other agencies to propose to the Prime Minister to set up a fund or a certain format to support scientists through research projects. And I will discuss it further with the minister of science and technology and minister of finance to direct this fund towards young people.

We must create a new generation of scientists in the country and should not put too much emphasis on foreign sources.

Therefore, attracting foreign talent is very important, but if we can activate the inner factor, it would be much better.

VietNamNet