Research and analysis

UK Science and Innovation Network summary: Vietnam

Published 9 May 2024

Science and Innovation Landscape

Research in numbers

In 2021, Vietnam’s gross domestic expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) was 0.42% of GDP. There was a sharp increase in R&D investment from the private sector from 12% in 2015 to 43.84% in 2021. Relative to GDP, Viet Nam is performing above expectations for its level of development.

Vietnam is currently 46th in the Global Innovation Index 2023. It ranks 2nd among the 37 lower-middle-income group economies. The number of international publications tripled between 2017 and 2022. Citable documents H-index was equivalent to an indicator rank of 59 in 2022. Top five disciplines in international publications are engineering, computer science, mathematics, environmental science and medicine.

Government structures and policies

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) oversees national ST&I policies and national R&D funding programmes. National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) is the funding agency for research. National Technology Innovation Fund (NATIF) is the funding agency for business innovation. Each of other ministries across the government manages its own sectoral ST&I policies and ministerial-level R&D programmes, e.g. health, agriculture, environment, industry.

Vietnam’s National Strategy for ST&I Development (2021 to 2030) aims to increase GERD to 1.5% by 2030. The paper defines the country’s research priorities.

Universities and research institutions

Vietnam has about 250 universities and 400 research institutes. Most of them are located in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The list below is not exhaustive. Interested partners are welcome to contact SIN Vietnam for more information about how to contact and partner with these institutions.

• Vietnam National University Hanoi
• Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City
• Hanoi University of Science and Technology
• Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology

UK-Vietnam partnership on ST&I

The UK-Vietnam ST&I partnership began in 2014 with the arrival of the Newton Fund and the Global Challenges Research Fund. Since then, 50 joint research projects have been supported by the Newton Fund, and the UK ranked 9th in the list of Vietnam’s international co-publishers between 2017 to 2022. Joint publications have mainly focussed on medicine, engineering and physics.

UK-Vietnam current ST&I priorities are emerging technologies (mostly AI), climate and environment, global health, and institutional capacity building in governance and responsible development and adoption of technology.

In 2023, Vietnam became a partner country to the UK’s International Science Partnership Fund (ISPF) which is now the main instrument to deepen UK-Vietnam ST&I partnerships. The UK’s Science and Innovation Network (SIN) works closely with Vietnamese government partners, funding agencies and academics in country to identify collaboration opportunities of mutual interest and complementary capability. SIN Vietnam mobilises various HMG’s science diplomacy channels and funds to materialise them, and works closely with the UK’s Department for Business and Trade to realise commercial benefits and incorporate industry engagement where appropriate. Examples of recent UK-Vietnam collaboration include a workshop on responsible AI governance organised in the margin of Vietnam’s AI Day, and a workshop to establish a UK-Vietnam network to drive innovation in healthcare.

SIN contacts

Huong Phan

Science, Technology and Health Policy Adviser, British Embassy Hanoi

Email: phan.huong@fcdo.gov.uk