Vietnam's research and development system in the 1990s: Structural and functional change. Research report

Under the ca. 15 years of doi moi (renovation) policy, Vietnam's development has been taking place in the two different but overlapping contexts of transformation and swift economic development. These contexts correspond to two different scenarios for the country's future: One scenario of transformation is the Eastern European pattern; the other is the Tiger Scenario, with increasing industrialisation and rapid economic growth. The research and development (R&D) potential created during the period of planned economy could assume a key role in these processes. In the 1990s the R&D system was restructured, with the aim of solving the financial problems that had arisen during transformation, while at the same time seeking to better achieve a functional integration of R&D into innovation processes in the economy. A joint research project carried out by the 'Working Group Transformation of Science Systems (WZB) and the NISTPASS, Hanoi conducted macrostructural research and in-depth case studies in selected industrial sectors and R&D institutions to clarify how this is taking place, which organisational forms are created by it, and how the new structures affect the functions of R&D. This report presents the results of this research. The impact of doi moi policy in the area of S&T must be described as ambiguous: There is an incongruity between successful structural changes and their functional effects, in particular regarding increased innovation activities - which have so far not or only partially been achieved. Some serious problems in the science system, in industrial enterprises as targets of innovations and in infrastructural prerequisites for innovation diminish Vietnam's current and future potential to utilise R&D for economic growth and social welfare.