Innovation needed for businesses to enter global value chains

Vietnam has long been assessed as an attractive destination for foreign investors, encouraging the country to continue improving the innovation capacity of its businesses so they may take part in the global supply chain more deeply, a conference in Hanoi on April 24 heard.

At the “Innovation in Manufacturing Quality Management For Entering The Global Value Chain” conference held by the National Innovation Center (NIC) and the Association of Military Enterprises, participants said Vietnam is entering a new period of development amid unpredictable global changes under the impact of Industry 4.0.

Therefore, the Party and the State have asked ministries and sectors to speed up the application and development of science and technology in order to take part in Industry 4.0.

Vietnam also targets becoming a smart service and production center and an innovation and startup center of Asia by 2045.

However, Deputy Minister of National Defense Vu Hai San said the country needs to focus on issues relating to capacity and long-term impacts such as training high-quality human resources and boosting innovation to increase product quality in order to join global supply chains.

Vietnam is considered an attractive destination for foreign investors and holds many advantages in receiving capital flows from multinational corporations. Improving capacity to join global supply chains is therefore urgent in order to tap the opportunities to turn Vietnam into a global production hub, he said.

Participants said Vietnam needs to have strong businesses that will lead, guide, and link with other enterprises to become satellite businesses in global supply chains.

The NIC has recently helped connect many innovation businesses via cooperative programs with giant tech groups such as Mega and Google.