VietNamNet Bridge – Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan discussed the difficulties of applying advanced technology with Cong Thuong (Industry and Commerce) newspaper.

We want the Government to ask the National Assembly to change the Budget Law so that the Ministry of Science and Technology directly funds local scientific and technological activity.

I understand that very few local governments have set aside 2 per cent of their total budget for science and technology development. In reality, the sum is less than 1 per cent and in some cases, it’s less than 0.2 per cent.

Such a sum is only enough for recurrent expenses like salaries and keeping the apparatus running.

It’s difficult for local administrations to talk about having money for the development of science and technology.

Many provinces are so poor, they are able to collect a limited amount of revenue. That’s why, when they have additional money from the central government, they have to use it for emergencies rather than science and technology.

Why doesn’t the Ministry of Science and Technology have a duty to allocate money from its budget for technology-application centres, if local governments have to do so?

The Budget Law governs the regulation.

It’s our ministry’s task to provide yearly budget estimates for the country’s science and technology and then send them to the Ministries of Finance and Planning and Investment for consideration before they go to the National Assembly for approval.

The Budget Law gives Provincial People’s Councils and the People’s Committees the power to decide how their budgets should be spent.

When making our estimates, we always include a sum to support the grassroots application of science and technology. This includes applied technology and information centres as well as agriculture and fisheries extension centres.

But, I’m sorry to say, most provinces and cities have misused the money and instead spent it on their own urgent problems.

We want the Government to ask the National Assembly to change the Budget Law so that the Ministry of Science and Technology directly funds local scientific and technological activity.

How will this money be used to help establish technology-application centres?

We will discuss with provincial administrators how best to help the centres maximise the limited funding in their research and application.

But the centres themselves should take the initiative in developing projects to use the funding properly and to follow all the required procedures.

We’re committed to helping these centres perform at their best.

(Source: Viet Nam News)