LookAtVietnam – Viet Nam has taken a further step in developing the legal framework for the country’s hi-tech sector with the new Law on High Technology taking effect today, July 1.

“It shows Viet Nam’s determination in developing its hi-tech industry, by creating a legal foundation for foreign investors who are interested in Viet Nam’s hi-tech sector,” said Mai Ha, director of the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy and Strategy Studies.

“Technology is environmentally-friendly, saves energy and is fee foundation for solid development,” said Ha, but he said the new law might actually have been premature.

“Another five years would be a better time for Viet Nam to start focusing on developing its hi-tech sector,” he said.

The new law demonstrated the Government’s attention to developing what Professor Nguyen Quang Liem, director of the Institute of Material Science under the Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology, called the “intelligence economy”.

“It also shows that hi-tech activities in the country have grown and developed to the point they need a legal foundation to develop further,” he said.

The strong point of the new law was that it would provide a co-ordinated legal foundation for all aspects of hi-tech activities, Ha said, from construction of infrastructure to manufacturing, production and hi-tech education and training.

“Hi-tech enterprises are also getting the highest tax reductions in production and property, and this is a real advantage to them,” he said.

“There’s also a separate chapter on developing hi-tech human resource with special treatment and advantages. This could be one of Viet Nam’s strong points in attracting investors,” added Khai.

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