Decision No. 82/2001/QD-TTg dated May 24, 2001 of the Prime Minister approving the major scientific and technological orientations, objectives and tasks and the list of key state-level scientific and technological programs in the 2001-2005 five-year period

DECISION

APPROVING THE MAJOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL ORIENTATIONS, OBJECTIVES AND TASKS AND THE LIST OF KEY STATE-LEVEL SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRAMS IN THE 2001-2005 FIVE-YEAR PERIOD

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of September 30, 1992;

Pursuant to the Science and Technology Law of June 9, 2000;

At the proposal of the Minister of Science, Technology and Environment in Report No. 1144/TTr-BKHCNMT of April 27, 2001,

DECIDES:

Article 1.-To approve the major scientific and technological orientations, objectives and tasks and the list of key State-level scientific and technological programs in the 2001-2005 five-year period issued together with this Decision.

Article 2.-The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment shall have the responsibility to:

1. Guide the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government and the Peoples Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities and mobilize the force of scientific and technological workers nationwide to perform the major tasks mentioned in Article 1 of this Decision in accordance with the Science and Technology Law;

2. Define and approve the specific objectives and contents of the key State-level scientific and technological programs; guide the implementation of these programs.

3. Regularly urge, inspect, supervise and periodically report to the Prime Minister on the progress and effectiveness of the performance of the scientific and technological tasks as well as the implementation of the key State-level scientific and technological programs.

Article 3.-The ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government and the Peoples Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to define and incorporate the above-mentioned scientific and technological tasks in the five-year and annual plans of the ministries, branches and localities, and organize the performance thereof under the guidance of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment; be responsible for the results and efficiency of the use of fundings for scientific and technological tasks performed at the ministries, branches and localities.

Article 4.-This Decision takes effect from the date of its signing.

Article 5.-The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government, the presidents of the Peoples Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities and the concerned agencies shall have to implement this Decision.

MAJOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL ORIENTATIONS, OBJECTIVES AND TASKS AND THE LIST OF KEY STATE-LEVEL SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRAMS IN THE 2001-2005 FIVE-YEAR PERIOD
(Issued together with the Prime Ministers Decision No. 82/2001/QD-TTg of May 24, 2001)

I. ORIENTATIONS FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

1. To step up research in social sciences and humanities in service of the cause of national industrialization and modernization and process of integration into the international economy on the basis of the creative application and development of Marxism-Leninism and the Ho Chi Minh Thought; to elaborate, develop and step by step perfect the system of theories on Vietnams path towards socialism.

2. To push up basic research in the fields of natural sciences, attaching importance to oriented basic studies in combination with technological development to meet the socio-economic development requirements. To systematically study natural conditions, natural resources and environmental protection; to study and forecast natural disaster prevention and mitigation; to conduct marine surveys and research along the direction of promoting the strong development of the marine economy.

3. To accelerate technological renovation in the economic sectors along the direction of modernizing each stage and branch through actively introducing, applying, mastering and developing imported technologies, in combination with the scientific research in and development of advanced and modern technologies in the country with a view to quickly raising the quality of products, the competitiveness of goods as well as the economys efficiency.

4. To widely apply technical advances and transfer appropriate technologies to rural and mountainous areas, attaching special importance to remote, deep-lying, special difficulty-hit and ethnic minority areas so as to form several business lines and trades; and to produce new products on the basis of Vietnams peculiar advantages, to create more jobs, increase incomes and raise the laborers living standards.

5. To concentrate efforts on building scientific and technological potentials along the direction of modernizing scientific and technological infrastructures, attaching importance to the development of high-level scientific and technological human resources. To further socialize the scientific and technological research activities.

6. To push up scientific research and technological development in service of defense and security.

II. SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES

1. To strive to reach the level of countries in the region and the world in a number of scientific and technological fields where Vietnam has strengths. To considerably increase the proportion of scientific and technological contributions to the realization of socio-economic development objectives.

2. To fundamentally renew the scientific and technological management mechanism. To create a new and effective stride of development in research and to extensively apply scientific and technological advances, to promptly solve urgent problems in production and life.

3. To provide scientific grounds for the formulation of the Party’s and State’s socio-economic development line, undertakings and policies.

4. To render consultancy and active support for branches, levels, localities as well as enterprises to integrate into the international economy, to put forward solutions in order to create breakthroughs in production development and key products in a number of crucial industries.

5. To form the scientific and technological market, to expand scientific and technological consultancy and service activities as well as technology transfer according to the provisions of the Science and Technology Law, focusing on renewing technologies, raising scientific and technological capabilities of a number of key eco-technical branches to a level equivalent to the regional level by the year 2005.

6. To build and put into operation soon Hoa Lac and Ho Chi Minh City high-tech parks as well as the already approved key laboratories, which are up to the regional and international levels.

7. To expand the training of high-level scientific and technological personnel at overseas establishments, particularly in countries with advanced sciences and technologies. To pay attention to training scientific and technological personnel for the prioritized scientific and technological fields.

8. To perfect the national scientific and technological information network and connect it to the worlds scientific and technological information system.

III. MAJOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL TASKS

1. Social sciences and humanities:

- To study and creatively apply Marxism-Leninism and the Ho Chi Minh Thought in the new stage of development in Vietnam in order to clearly determine the path and the steps to be taken as well as political, economic and legal solutions to the national industrialization and modernization; to build a law-governed socialist State of the people, by the people and for the people in an equitable, democratic and civilized society advancing towards socialism. To sum up the practical renewal process in the country, to draw out experiences and lessons for the process of building a law-governed State under the leadership of the Party.

- To anticipate the worlds development trends in the early years of the 21st century; economic, political and social questions entailed by the globalization process; theoretical and practical issues in the determination of Vietnams strategic line in the economic, political, cultural, social, security and defense fields in the process of integration into the international and the regional economy.

- To study and define the nature and model of a socialist-oriented market economy, synchronous measures in the management organization and solutions to create a driving force and raise the competitiveness of Vietnams economy.

- To comprehensively study cultural, ethnic and religious matters. To concentrate efforts on summing up and promoting the nations cultural values; to study policies and measures to protect and promote the system of cultural values.

- To study and develop the educational science, to determine the strategic objectives and measures to develop comprehensively the Vietnamese men in the first 20 years of the 21st century.

- To study and compile a number of the countrys large scientific works such as the Chronology of Vietnams History; the History of Vietnams Culture; the Grand Collection of the Vietnamese Literature over ten centuries; the Encyclopedia.

2. Natural sciences:

- To study and evaluate natural resources so as to serve the planning, exploitation, protection and rational use of each natural resource in each region.

- To study and raise the meteorological, hydrological and natural disaster forecasting capacity in a systematic way.

- To conduct basic surveys and systematically synthesize data relating to our countrys sea areas in service of the assessment of marine potentials; to draw up the planning and work out various options on the exploitation and development of the marine economy in combination with the safeguarding of national sovereignty and interests.

- To study, receive and effectively apply the worlds new scientific achievements so as to create foundation for the direction, master and innovation of new technologies; to develop high-tech areas and contribute to creating new scientific knowledge.

3. Technological sciences:

a/ Information and communication technologies

- To study and receive advanced technologies in order to develop telecommunications and informatics infrastructures which can meet the development needs of socio-economic, security and defense branches, to raise the national scientific and technological capacity in this field.

- To research in technologies, design and create high-quality electronic products for use in telecommunications, industrial control, medicine, scientific research, special military equipment, information processing equipment and peripheral devices.

- To research in and develop the software industry to meet the domestic and export demands.

- To research in and develop on an experimental basis advanced technologies and apply them under Vietnams conditions, such as digital radio and television broadcasting, the second-generation Internet, the third-generation mobile communication, electronic commerce, and the launching of VINASAT telecommunications satellite.

b/ Biological technologies

- To research in and apply the gene technology, cell technology and embryo technology to the selection and creation of plant and animal varieties (including aquatic resources); to receive the worlds advanced biological techniques.

- To research in and apply the biological technology to the production of biological fertilizers, plant and animal protection preparations, and to the treatment of environmental pollution.

- To research in and apply the micro-biological technology and enzyme technology in service of the development of techniques of preserving and processing agricultural, forestry and aquatic products, thus raising their competitiveness on the domestic and export markets.

- To research in, apply and develop the gene technology in medical diagnosis and treatment; to renew technologies used in the production of vaccines, antibiotics, diagnostic kits, and medical and biological preparations for human use, and the gene technology used in autoptic examinations.

c/ New material technologies

- To research in and create high-grade materials from the natural resources available in Vietnam.

- To research in and apply technologies to create and process pig-iron, special steel and aluminum alloys.

- To perfect technologies used in the production of several high-grade pottery, porcelain and glass products.

- To research in, apply and process common composite polymer materials, nano-composite polymer and assorted compound polymers.

- To research in anti-corrosion materials and technologies.

- To research in photo-electronic and photonic materials, energy transformation materials, high-grade magnetic materials, nano-structured materials, and special-property materials in service of security and defense.

d/ Automation technologies

- To research in and apply the control- and design-assisted system (SCADA) technology intensively and extensively.

- To research in, design and create the computerized number control system (CNC) and its components.

- To design and create automatic measuring and information processing devices and system.

- To design and create robots.

- To research in, design and create a number of automation accessories and structures to substitute imports: special-use industrial computers (IPC), industrial programming controllers, integrated systems, special-use cards, real time control units, barohydraulic elements.

e/ Machine-building technologies

- To study, thoroughly understand and master advanced basic technologies used in machine building.

- To study and apply achievements brought about by high technologies in machine building.

- To research in, design and create machinery, equipment and spare parts.

- To study scientific and technological issues related to the diagnosis of the technical conditions of machinery, equipment and systems.

f/ The energy field

- To research in and apply new technologies, adapt and master imported technologies in the prospection and assessment of deposits, potentials, in the exploitation, sorting, selection and full exploitation of thin coal seams and gas deposits, and in the processing of coal. To research in and apply technological solutions to overcome environmental pollution in the exploitation and transportation of coal.

- To research in and apply scientific and technological solutions to ensure the optimal, rational and power-saving operation of the electric system.

- To research in and apply technological solutions and new materials in order to use new forms of energy. To prepare scientific grounds, technical and legal conditions for the development of nuclear power.

- To study and limit the adverse impacts of hydroelectric projects on the environment.

- To study the impacts of strong electromagnetic radiation on the living environment.

- To research in the prospection, exploration and exploitation of oil and gas in deep water areas; to study and raise the collection co-efficients at oil and gas fields under exploitation; to research in and develop mature oil and gas fields (small fields); to research in the possibility of using sources of gas containing a high CO2 content; to research in the transformation of energy source from oil into gas.

g/ The construction and communications field

- To research in, apply, receive and master imported technologies in combination with improving and modernizing technologies for the construction of traditional infrastructures.

- To master technologies for the construction of marine projects, hydroelectric projects, sophisticated underground projects, including those in the line form, so as to solve the problem of urban traffic: subways, collection systems, river-spanning tunnels.

- To research in and apply advanced transportation technologies, particularly multi-mode transportation; to apply information and automation technologies to the transportation management, operation and exploitation and at a number of stages of the production of construction materials.

- To research in and apply new technologies in the production of special-property materials in service of the construction of infrastructural works.

- To research in and apply new technologies to the designing and construction of infrastructural works like bridges, roads, airports, ports and wharves, and technologies for the production of traffic means and works.

- To better the system of rules and standards for the active infrastructure management, the planning management and the architectural development in urban centers, the close inspection of the quality and prices of construction commodities and services, ensuring their international competitiveness.

h/ The field of agriculture, forestry and fishery

- To strive to bring the scientific and technological contributions to the added value of the agricultural, forestry and fishery production to 30 - 40%.

- To concentrate efforts on researching in, selecting and creating plant and animal varieties (attaching importance to typically indigenous and cross-bred ones) which have a high yield and quality and are suitable to various ecological zones, in service of the food and foodstuff security and export objectives.

- To research in, apply and develop advanced technologies in the agricultural farming, forestry, irrigation, aquaculture, in order to bring into full play the strain potentials, ensure sustainable development, protect the environment, and rationally use water resources.

- To research in, design and create assorted machinery, equipment and technologies in service of mechanization, preservation and processing in the agricultural production, forestry and fishery.

- To research in, apply and transfer technologies in order to contribute to accelerating the process of agricultural and rural industrialization and modernization.

i/ The community health protection and care

- To research in and raise the quality of manufactured vaccines, bio-preparations, medical equipment, and effectively exploit the domestic source of pharmaceutical materials for the production of medicines which are competitive under the market mechanism.

- To research in and apply modern techniques and technologies suited to each level, serving the community majority in first aid, diagnosis, treatment and prophylactic medicine in order to reduce the mortality rate in the first 24 hours, control and prevent dangerous epidemics.

- To selectively receive the worlds scientific and technological achievements with a view to inheriting, promoting, raising and modernizing the traditional medicine, striving to bring the traditional medicine level on par with that of several developed countries in the region.

- To research in and overcome the effects of hazardous chemicals used in industry and agriculture, and toxic chemicals used by the United States in the Vietnam war.

- To study measures to ensure foodstuff quality, safety and hygiene.

- To study, renew and better the system of healthcare policies and law with a view to socializing healthcare activities in order to ensure social justice in the care of the populations health.

IV. LIST OF KEY STATE-LEVEL SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRAMS

A. THERE ARE 8 PROGRAMS IN THE FIELD OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES:

1. The socialist-oriented market economy.

2. Socialist-oriented industrialization and modernization - the path and steps forward.

3. Party building in the new situation.

4. The law-governed socialist State of the people, for the people and by the people.

5. Development of the culture, men and human resources in the period of industrialization and modernization.

6. Forecasts on the enemys new-style war, proposals on policies and solutions against it.

7. The hostile forces strategic schemes and activities of infringing upon the national security in the coming time - our counteracting policies.

8. Main characteristics and major trends in the world and the region in the first two decades of the 21st century - Prospect of the worlds revolution.

The objectives, contents and major tasks of the social science and humanity programs shall be defined by the Central Theory Council and submitted to the Political Bureau for decision.

B. THERE IS ONE PROGRAM IN THE FIELD OF NATURAL SCIENCES:

Basic research in different areas of natural science.

C. There are 10 programs in the field of technological sciences:

1. Scientific research in and development of the information and communication technologies.

2. Scientific research in and development of the new material technology.

3. Scientific research in and development of the automation technology.

4. Scientific research in and development of the bio-technology.

5. Scientific research in and development of the machine-building technology.

6. Application of advanced technologies to the production of export products and key products.

7. Science and technology in service of agricultural and rural industrialization and modernization.

8. Environmental protection, and natural disaster prevention and avoidance.

9. Basic survey, research in and application of the marine technology.

10. Science and technology in service of the care and protection of the communitys health.

Apart from the above-listed key State-level scientific and technological programs, the independent State-level subjects (if any) shall be guided by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment which shall also coordinate with the specialized managing ministries in the implementation thereof.-