Development based on science, technology, and innovation
On March 25, in Hanoi, the Vietnam and World Institute of Economics (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences) organized the Vietnam Economic Forum 2026 with the theme "Development model based on science and technology, innovation and digital transformation".
Speaking at the opening of the forum, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Duc Minh - Vice President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences - said that the world is witnessing the strong development of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation. This is not only an inevitable trend but has become a decisive factor in the competitiveness and development of countries, organizations and businesses.
For Vietnam, development based on science, technology, innovation and digital transformation is a strategic orientation," Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Duc Minh emphasized.
Speaking at the forum, Dr. Nguyen Duc Hien - Deputy Head of the Central Policy and Strategy Committee - said that according to the 2026 work program, the Committee is assigned to preside over the development of a project to innovate the country's development model based on science, technology, innovation and digital transformation.
Regarding the content of the project, first of all, it is necessary to clarify the approach and identification of the country's development model. This is a broad concept, including the economic development model (including the growth model), along with fields such as society, defense, environment, foreign affairs and culture. However, these fields are pillars; the core of the development model is to identify goals, development philosophy, driving forces and operating mechanisms.
Currently, there are many different ways of dividing and approaching, but the issue is to unify the overall approach, ensuring that the development model fully covers all fields, while clarifying the foundational factors, motivation, center and operating mechanism of the model.
Another concern is that after determining the model structure, it is necessary to clarify the role of each component: Where is the core (philosophy, goals, motivation), where are the pillars and the relationships between them. In particular, it is necessary to distinguish between the overall development model and the operating mechanism such as the market economy - this is the operating foundation, not identical to the entire development model.
Vietnam is fully capable of creating a "miracle".
According to Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Van Hoa (National Economics University), after 40 years of Doi Moi (Renovation) (1986-2026), Vietnam has achieved socio-economic development achievements of historical significance, from a poor centralized planned economy to a middle-income economy with a GDP scale of 514 billion USD (2025)...
However, the country's development model is revealing many limitations such as low quality of life, large environmental pollution, growth is still mainly dependent on investment capital and cheap labor, weak endogenous capacity, over 70% of export value still comes from FDI enterprises, and the risk of falling into the middle-income trap," Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Van Hoa assessed.
According to this expert, innovating the country's development model is an inevitable and urgent requirement when Vietnam enters a new development stage - a stage where traditional growth drivers (capital, cheap labor, resources) have reached their limits, while new drivers (science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, green economy) require a completely different institutional framework and capacity.
Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Van Hoa assessed that the achievements of 40 years of Doi Moi show that Vietnam is fully capable of creating "miracles" of development when having the right vision, high political determination and appropriate institutions. However, the real test lies in the ability to transform resolutions into practical policies, turn visions into specific actions, and narrow the gap between policy design and implementation capacity.
With a solid macroeconomic foundation, increasingly enhanced international position, a young and dynamic population, and unprecedented strong political determination, Vietnam is facing a historic opportunity to truly enter the era of national rise. The prerequisite is to implement synchronously and drastically solutions with a focus on institutional breakthroughs, promoting S&T-innovation and developing high-quality human resources" - Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Van Hoa emphasized.
