Innovation and creativity are vital to improving competitiveness, stated Minister of Science and Technology (MoST) Nguyen Quan at the second international forum on business creativity held in HCM City on May 19.

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan (Photo: VNA)

They help enhance governance capacity and produce high-quality products, Quan said, adding that Vietnamese enterprises should focus on this area in order to successfully integrate into the international market.

Camilla Mellander, Swedish Ambassador to Viet Nam, introduced Sweden’s national innovation strategy and recommended solutions for innovation and creativity for Vietnamese companies to apply.

Specifically, she recommended opening the door to foreign companies, promoting trade activities and facilitating technology transfer between enterprises.

The Vietnamese Government should allocate additional funds to research, creativity and education, she added.

According to the Business Association of High Quality Vietnamese Products, the association signed an agreement with the MoST in September 2013 to implement five consulting and training programmes to assist enterprises to innovate and build a technology market for Viet Nam.

Thus far, over 50 activities have been organised to connect supply and demand and assist enterprises to improve the quality of scientific and technological research activities and applied administration.

(Source: VNA)