Circular No. 49 goes beyond adjusting spending limits. It seeks to change how the State uses financial resources to advance strategic technologies: investing appropriately in people, attracting top experts and organizing funding around specific work packages.

On Aug. 1, 2026, the Minister of Science and Technology issued Circular No. 49/2026/TT-BKHCN, establishing a financial mechanism for strategic technology research and development tasks under the special national science, technology and innovation program on strategic technologies.

Greater autonomy in selecting contractors and suppliers

For the purchase or rental of equipment, machinery, goods and services directly serving a research task, the lead organization is empowered to select contractors and suppliers at its own discretion and take responsibility for those decisions. The selection process must comply with procurement regulations, relevant specialized laws and the technical requirements of the task.

This greater autonomy comes with clear conditions: procurement must directly serve the objectives of the task, meet technical and technological requirements and deadlines, and ensure openness, transparency and efficiency while avoiding conflicts of interest and complying with the law.

For strategic technologies that evolve rapidly, time itself is a critical resource. A lengthy financial procedure can mean missing an opportunity to access equipment, technology or markets. The new mechanism therefore seeks to move decision-making closer to those directly conducting the research, while clearly defining accountability for those decisions.

Advance funding allowed for urgent work

To minimize disruptions to research, lead organizations are permitted to use their own legitimate financial resources or other lawful sources of capital to advance funds for urgent work that needs to begin immediately, before state budget funding is disbursed.

These advance payments can subsequently be consolidated for reimbursement and settlement in accordance with regulations.

The mechanism is particularly significant for research, testing and procurement activities that need to proceed continuously, where a delay at one stage could affect the schedule of an entire work package or research task.

Mobilizing private resources alongside the State

The circular also broadens the mechanism for mobilizing counterpart funding from businesses, organizations and individuals participating in research tasks.

Counterpart contributions do not have to be in cash. They can include machinery, equipment, technology lines, laboratories, testing facilities and technical infrastructure; intellectual property rights, technology-use rights, software and intangible assets; direct personnel costs; and other lawful resources.

Recognizing the actual resources contributed by participating businesses and organizations helps shift the approach from one in which “the State funds a research project” toward a model in which the State and society jointly mobilize resources to solve strategic technology challenges.

It also provides a foundation for greater business participation throughout the process, from research and testing to the adoption, transfer and commercialization of research outcomes.

Creating room for breakthrough research

Strategic technology research and development inherently involves uncertainty. An approach selected on a sound scientific basis and implemented in accordance with regulations may still fail to deliver the expected results because of technical limitations or objective factors that emerge during the research process. The new financial mechanism is designed to better reflect this reality.

Where a research task is determined to involve an acceptable level of risk under the law, the lead organization will not be required to repay state budget funding that has been used for the correct objectives, content and scope and in accordance with regulations.

The mechanism gives scientists, businesses and research organizations more room to pursue new and difficult technological directions with the potential to produce breakthroughs.

At the same time, it remains tied to accountability and the principles governing state budget management. Funds used for improper purposes or in violation of regulations must be repaid, while fraud or deliberate violations will be handled in accordance with the law.

In this way, the policy seeks to recognize the uncertainty inherent in research while ensuring that public resources are used for their intended purposes and managed openly and transparently.

Greater autonomy comes with stronger oversight and accountability

Lead organizations are given greater flexibility in organizing personnel, allocating resources, adjusting funding within permitted limits and carrying out research tasks. In return, they are responsible for deliverables, technical targets, schedules, the effective use of funding and the accuracy of documentation.

Information on the management and use of funding will be updated on a digital platform. Management agencies will monitor and supervise implementation based on risk-management principles and may request explanations, conduct inspections or commission independent audits where warranted under regulations.

The approach marks a shift away from a system heavily focused on pre-approval toward one that emphasizes greater autonomy, monitoring of outcomes, post-implementation oversight and risk control, creating more favorable conditions for research while maintaining budgetary discipline.

Minh Huong