On May 25, at the Party Central Committee Headquarters, General Secretary and President To Lam chaired a working session of the Standing Committee of the Central Steering Committee for Science, Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation, giving opinions on basic scientific research to serve national development in the new period.
Concluding the working session, General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized a very important point about basic science, that investing in basic science is investing in the long-term future of the nation, for national autonomy capacity.
That is, basic science must be placed in its right position as the strategic foundation of national development, not purely research activities in laboratories in schools and institutes.
This view shows the country's long-term development vision in the context of increasingly fierce global competition. The strength of a nation now, in addition to resources, capital or cheap labor, is also the ability to create new knowledge and master strategic technology.
Reality shows that no country has become a technological superpower without a strong foundation of science.
The United States has a leading position in artificial intelligence, space technology or biomedicine today because it has invested decades in mathematics, physics, computer science and fundamental research.
South Korea, Japan, and recently China are all following the same path of persistently investing in basic research to lay the foundation for core technology and autonomy.
A country that wants to master semiconductor chips, AI, new materials or defense technology cannot just buy technology but must be able to create knowledge itself.
And to have the capacity to create knowledge, there is no other way but to invest methodically and strategically to develop basic science.
And the speech of General Secretary and President To Lam shows that Vietnam is looking at basic science in this way to develop the nation in the long term.
Investing in basic science is also not about planting short-term crops, planting today, a few months after harvest, but it takes a lot of time, patience, and perseverance. Because there are studies that sometimes take decades to produce results and create value.
But when a sufficiently strong foundation of knowledge is created, the effectiveness will not only be technology or economy, but also national autonomy and long-term competitiveness of the country.
If you want to go fast, you can buy technology. But if you want to go far and develop sustainably with your own internal strength, you must invest in basic science, build a strong enough knowledge base to be technologically autonomous and the future of the nation.
