Promoting science and technology in accordance with socio-economic development
During the urbanization era, Binh Duong has specifically integrated various goals on promoting science and technology (S&T) in accordance with socio-economic development and actively turned S&T into a major development motive in general strategies, laying the groundwork for investment attraction with high added value and sustainable development in the 4.0 era. The process of promoting S&T has been carried out according to a roadmap with a focus on suiting the actual situation, bolstering existing industrial, service, and infrastructure advantages, and at the same time focusing on the demands of the market, whose nucleus is business. Binh Duong has dramatically applied the "Triple Helix" model from Eindhoven, Netherlands, and promoted cooperation between the (1) state, (2) enterprise, and (3) school to create conditions and encourage organizations in society to invest in it.
Binh Duong has strongly encouraged investment, attracting resources from society to conduct research in a methodical, scientific manner in line with new trends and demands. For instance, the Binh Duong Comprehensive and Integrated Planning Project for the Year 2030—with the Vision for 2025—has been undertaken by Central Research Institutes and International Consultants in concurrence with the Smart Logistics Project by the Viet Nam Logistics Research and Development Institute and enterprises. The province was also chosen by the Central Theoretical Council to summarize the country's development model, the country's innovation, and the orientation vision for 2050. Only in 2022, nearly 30 subjects and projects involving the application of S&T in coordination with institutes, educational organizations, and enterprises have been carried out to solve practical and urgent issues in the province, ranging from social security and national defense, social issues, culture, and religions to economic, agricultural, and industrial development, and digital transformation support for businesses, etc.
Not only using budgets, Binh Duong also focuses on encouraging businesses to invest in research and development and opening S&T funds up to billions of dong. Businesses actively implement many subjects and projects and coordinate with institutes and educational organizations to do research on solutions for business and production improvement for themselves, contribute to society, and even get a chance to be recognized by the authorities, which is a foundation for further development. In 2022, the number of S&T enterprises increased by 3. In the future, the S&T sector will continue to develop the "Triple Helix" model, connect all sides, and establish large-scale scientific programs to solve breakthrough and far-reaching issues. The province has been developing major cooperative programs with leading scientific agencies such as the Central Theoretical Council, Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City.
Developing an innovative ecosystem
In terms of developing an innovative ecosystem based on the central policy, Binh Duong has issued and strongly implemented policies, including Project 826 on "Supporting small and medium-sized start-up enterprises in Binh Duong Province up to the year 2025.". The Binh Duong Innovation Center, established by the province, connects all enterprises in the area, contributing to a breakthrough in innovative startup.
According to the province's orientation, businesses and educational organizations are encouraged and given optimal conditions to simultaneously build service facilities to promote startup and technological experiments such as the Incubator Center and Lab Center 4.0 based on international standards of the Eastern International University, Becamex's 16000m2 technical experimental workshop, Singapore-based Startup Support Center Block71 in cooperation between the National University of Singapore and Becamex Corporation, Advanced Manufacturing Center to support businesses to improve productivity and quality, Startup Support Center of Thu Dau Mot University, Agricultural Startup Incubation Center of Irrigation University Binh Duong Branch, World Trade Center with 22000m2 for public exhibition technology, etc., and most recently, the new German-standard campus of Vietnam-Germany University will be the nucleus of the university city - innovation in the future.
Another typical example that shows the significance of the enterprise force is the main role of the Becamex IDC in the development of an innovative startup ecosystem in the Binh Duong New City area, a political and social center of the province with a modern infrastructure foundation. This area has attracted international-standard universities and training centers focusing on the fields of information technology, mechatronics, electronics, business administration, etc. It also serves as a pillar in the training of human resources for modern factories and the development of an industrial base through research and development subjects. Thanks to these conditions, the New City has become a Living Lab for the Smart City Project. It is a testing ground for new ideas and technologies, with the goal of laying a solid foundation before broad synchronous application to the entire province and region.
In addition, in recent years, Binh Duong has regularly hosted events, workshops, competitions, and exhibition in both national and international levels to promote global connection and attract thousands of prestigious leaders, rectors, organizations, and businesses from all over the world to Binh Duong, opening investment attraction, human resources exchanges, scientific and technological, innovative, and smart city development, namely the UNESCO Global Innovation Forum 2018, Horasis Asia Meeting (2018, 2019), Asia Pacific Industrial Transformation Event ITAP (2021), Binh Duong National Science Conference Century (2022), Conference to honor the top 7 World Smart Community Forum 2022, etc., and most recently, sequent events of the Techfest Vietnam National Innovation Day 2022 with a scale of hundreds of exhibition booths, more than 30 seminars, co-organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology and Binh Duong province, with the participation of the Prime Minister and more than 8000 visitors, marking a new era of Binh Duong after 25 years of development and breakthroughs towards a new industrial ecosystem and a Smart City in the 4.0 era where Science, Technology, and Innovation are the keys.
Binh Duong's innovative strategies have been highly appreciated by many domestic and foreign organizations and awarded many titles and awards, such as the title of "Pioneer in the national innovation journey in 2021" by VCCI, the Top Industry 4.0 Viet Nam Award in 2022 organized by the Viet Nam Union of Science and Technology Associations in collaboration with central agencies, and especially by the World Smart Community Forum ICF honored the Top 7 areas with typical smart city development strategies in 2021 and 2022.
Determining to progress, setting a goal of early escaping the middle income trap
In the next phase, with the challenges and opportunities of the 4.0 post-Covid-19 era and the constant instability of the world, Binh Duong is determined to rise up, setting a goal to soon overcome the middle-income trap. Accordingly, income per capita is expected to be more than 14,500 USD, according to Resolution 24 of the Politburo on the development of the Southeast region with the key of science, technology, and innovation. Two major focuses of the province's science and technology in the new period are how to attract resources and connect the Triple Helix in order to (1) strongly support enterprises to improve their qualifications and reduce labor intensiveness; proceed digital transformation and 4.0 technology application to improve productivity and quality, and (2) form a vibrant open innovation ecosystem for the future implementation of science and technology zones and next-generation industrial ecosystems and a new, smart, civilized, and modern city. Currently, Binh Duong is actively planning the Innovation Zone - the focus of the Smart City project in the next phase, in order to connect projects and start-up areas across the province. That the South of the region is connected with Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, the province borders Chon Thanh - Binh Phuoc in the North will form an innovation axis of the Southern Key Economic Zone, in which the New City is the core. The area is concentrated with resources to create new development levers, such as building smart industrial parks, clusters of international standard universities combined with livable cities and developing open innovation ecosystems.
Thus, from solid foundations and under the close direction of provincial leaders, the science, technology, and innovation industry is changing strongly, opening new directions, and attracting social resources to contribute gradually and more strongly to the socio-economic breakthrough of Binh Duong province in the new stage.
PhD. Nguyen Viet Long
Director of Binh Duong Department of Science and Technology