Highlights of Vietnam-Japan sci-tech cooperation
The construction of the first space center in Vietnam officially started in September 2012. The project is funded by the Japanese Government and based in the Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park, with total investment of US$600 million. This has been one of Vietnam’s biggest science and technology projects for the last 35 years.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio, who is now President of the East Asian Community Research Institute, said Vietnam and Japan considered science and technology cooperation as one of the top priorities when the two countries promoted a strategic partnership. Japan has advantages in engineering and technology while Vietnam has advantages in producing consumer goods. So bilateral cooperation in the field of science and technology can help Vietnam apply advanced technologies to produce quality consumer goods.
The Vietnamese and Japanese governments have signed an agreement on science and technology cooperation, leading to the establishment of the Vietnam-Japan Joint Committee for Science and Technology Cooperation. The committee has held three meetings in Vietnam and Japan. Several large-scale projects and important science and technology cooperation programs between the two countries have been developed, benefiting both sides.
Data from the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology show that since 2000, Vietnam and Japan have implemented 42 scientific research cooperation tasks according to a protocol signed between the two countries. The Japanese side has invested in a number of large-scale projects in Vietnam such as the Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park, the Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Plant and the Vietnam Space Center. Of these, the Vietnam Space Center project with Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding from the Japanese government and counterpart funding from the Vietnamese government totaling US$600 million will be able to help Vietnam improve its weather forecasting capabilities to prevent billions of US dollars in losses. The project marks a starting point of strategic cooperation between Vietnam and Japan in the field of space technology which is still new to Vietnam.
In terms of training, universities from the two countries have signed nearly 400 cooperation agreements. The number of scientific researchers taking part in cooperation projects has increased year on year. More than 500 Vietnamese scientific researchers were sent to Japan in 2005 and 1,200 in 2012. The number of Japanese scientific researchers visiting Vietnam also grew from 1,800 in 2005 to 2,600 in 2012. Many of them are working at important positions in research institutes, universities or companies in Japan or Vietnam. The two countries have promoted cooperation in developing and using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and other fields such as intellectual property, standards, measurement and quality.
Vietnamese Science and Technology Minister Nguyen Quan said in the time to come, along with promoting bilateral cooperation in science and technology, Vietnam and Japan must increase their participation in multilateral cooperation mechanisms, focusing on biotechnology, advanced materials, space technology and information technology.
source: ven.vn
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