Viet Nam Automation Association vice-chairman Trinh Dinh De told Khoa hoc va Doi song (Science and Life) newspaper Viet Nam could become dependent on foreign technology if it did not realise its own potential.

When you made suggestions for the Science and Technology Development Strategy to 2020 and Vision to 2030, you said domestic producers were becoming reliant on foreign equipment while the local science and technology sector looked on?

That is the reality. Producers need modern equipment to compete, and not because they want to show off or to use it as decoration. It's a matter of economic efficiency.

During integration, we should import when this is the cheaper option. At the same time, we should produce the technology ourselves if we can.

Are we becoming consumers of technology as well as of consumer goods?

We are consuming foreign goods to a certain extent. This is because we do not apply a closed-door policy. But we have to acquire world technologies while developing our own brain power.

But will convenience make us reliant on foreign technology?

While it is true that importing may be cheaper in the short term, dependence is costly in the long run. For example, when imported technology break downs we have to bring foreigners in. This could change if we trained capable science and technology staff.
Is this why you said the domestic science and technology sector was a mere outsider?

The issue here is not that we lack the capability, and I'm talking about advanced technology as well. It's just that the science and technology development strategy doesn't address the issue or set out specific criteria to solve this problem.

Why doesn't the strategy address this problem?

The overall science and technology development strategy has not yet clearly defined this issue. For instance, we are yet to pinpoint just how much science and technology contributes to GDP, percentage wise. But science and technology play a decisive role in producing goods. And that's what the gross domestic product is in essence: the production of goods.

Many people say that our GDP is unstable and that we produce poor quality goods. To give an example, Viet Nam earns billions of US dollars from the export of electronic goods. But most of this revenue goes to wholly foreign-invested companies. The growth in quality remains low because we don't fully make use of our intelligentsia.

Could you elaborate?

When it imports equipment, Viet Nam exports unskilled labour and then invites foreign experts to run and repair high-tech production lines in this country. However, local automotive technicians could help production lines work at full capacity. Automation is present everywhere, from cement production and oil refineries to beer and wine processing. Unfortunately, we are still dependent on foreign labour.

Are you saying that Viet Nam isn't keeping pace with other countries?

That's certainly true of the automation industry. We have to invest in the industry if we want it to keep up. Automation is one of four priority directions of our science revolution. When we talk about modernised industry, we mean auto-mation.

You said Viet Nam was exporting unskilled labour. Is this why the Viet Nam Automation Association has established a high-tech labour training college?

Yes. We are currently building the school after being granted the licence. It aims to provide and export skilled, technical workers. Viet Nam has exported several tens of thousands of people but all in the form of unskilled labour. If technical workers are exported, they will be paid more and benefit from better conditions. More importantly, they will be able to bring home the technological know-how that they gain abroad.

Source: VNS