WNAM REPORT: The 2024 Global Innovation Index (GII), in which Vietnam climbed two places to the 44th among the 132 countries and economies, reflects the country’s strengths and weaknesses in innovation and helps Vietnamese firms to develop future strategies, according to insiders.
This year’s GII report was released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) at a ceremony held in Switzerland on September 26.
Le Ngoc Tri, CEO of EM&AI JSC specialising in tech solutions, said the indicators reflect Vietnam’s innovation progress, helping startups like his firm gain an insight into the domestic market.
Meanwhile, Do Quy Su, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of FiveSS Technology JSC, hailed the Vietnamese Government’s efforts in promoting innovation by enterprises, particularly tech startups, adding the GII makes it easier for Vietnamese firms to develop their own strategies for the future.
Over the past years, the Vietnamese Government has taken the index as a key management tool, and assigned ministries, agencies, and localities to raise relevant indicators, helping create improvements for 14 consecutive years.
Speaking via videoconferencing at the announcement ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed that Vietnam has put the people at the centre, and taken them as the subjects and beneficiaries of innovation. Therefore, the country needs a global and all-people approach, promotes multilateralism, and calls for international cooperation in innovation.
Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat held that Vietnam should pay more heed to both innovation input and output, especially the indicators where its performance remains poor, thus maintaining and improving its GII ranking.
He emphasised the importance of breakthroughs in mechanisms and policies to create momentum for science-technology development and innovation, raise businesses’ capacity of adopting and absorbing cutting-edge technologies, and enhance the innovative startup ecosystem, focusing on the models with positive impacts on the environment and society.
The 2024 GII shows that Vietnam ranks 1st globally in high-tech exports, high-tech imports. and creative goods exports.
Additionally, it has three indicators in the top 10 globally – labour productivity (3rd), number of smartphone applications (7th), and the share of research and development spending covered by businesses in total R&D expenditure (9th).
