VietNamNet Bridge – Key national laboratories have been helping researchers in Vietnam achieve results never before seen in the country, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Quoc Thang affirms.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Quoc Thang

Only 15 of the 17 laboratories have finished the construction phase, while only three have been put into operation in the eight years of the project. But the regulation on the key laboratories’ operations has just been promulgated. Do you think that the tardiness will cause a waste of time and money, as valuable equipment has become out of date?

The implementation of the plan on 17 key laboratories can be divided into three phases. The first one, 2001-2005, building the first six key laboratories. The second one, 2003-2006, building the next eight laboratories. And the third phase, 2004-2009, building the remaining three laboratories.

I have to say that building and running national key laboratories is really a new thing for Vietnam. In the investment period, the management must strictly follow the currently applied regulation on bidding and investment.

The petrochemistry laboratory (Vietnam Chemistry Institute)

I have to remind you that the then Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, now the Ministry of Science and Technology, promulgated the temporary regulations on the structure and operations of the key laboratories on January 31, 2002. However, the temporary regulations are not suitable any more, especially as a lot of legal documents have been enacted, including the Intellectual Property Law and Technology Transfer Law.

Finally, the official regulation on the structure and operations of national key laboratories was promulgated on July 8, 2008.

You know, China began building key laboratories in the 1980s, but it only promulgated the regulation in 2001.

As far as I know, the Ministry of Science and Technology has recently inspected the 15 key laboratories. Could you please tell us about the inspection results?

The laboratories have been playing a very important role in scientific research activities in Vietnam, while efficiently helping researchers achieve results which, I can say, couldn’t have been gained in Vietnam without the laboratories.

In the last five years, while laboratories have been installing equipment and operating concurrently, 1,071 scientific works have been successfully concluded and published domestically, while 614 others published internationally, and 10 inventions and 26 utility solutions registered. The laboratories assisted a lot of universities in the training of postgraduates, MAs, and students of different scientific branches, and attracted hundreds of foreign scientists.

Some scientists have expressed concern that the laboratories, which have gobbled huge sums of money of the state budget, may work simply as centres of scientific equipment. They also say that the key laboratories may not have enough money to maintain operations. What would you say about that?

One of the aims of the key laboratories is to attract leading domestic and international scientists. Therefore, we call the laboratories ‘open laboratories’, and these are seen in many countries in the world.

However, I have to say that the key laboratories are not simply open centres with modern equipment. More importantly, the laboratories will be rendezvous points for leading scientists. Directors of the key laboratories must be highly-qualified scientists who have prestige, and they must be appointed under strict procedures.

The Ministry of Science and Technology will cooperate with the Ministries of Interior Affairs and Finance on a flexible mechanism in order to ensure sufficient expenses and staffs to run the laboratories.

Quang Hanh