According to a report in the Việt Nam News, the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has asked all heads of central and local government offices to prepare for the fourth Industrial revolution through Instruction No.16/CT-TTG. This would include focus on human resources and developing the required infrastructure, so that the country can take advantage of the opportunities that are expected to become available.
Adoption of e-government systems to simplify administrative procedures and offer better, easier to use services to individuals and enterprises would also play a critical role in this.
Roles assigned to ministries and government agencies
As per the aforementioned Instruction, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) will become a focal point for the implementation of several programmes supporting the Industry 4.0, coordinating with other ministries and different sectors and localities. This includes programmes for the development of human resources with the right knowledge and skill sets, including a National Science and Technology Programme on Mathematics, Physics and Basic Sciences. MST will for the same.
In addition, the Ministry of Education and Training (MET) will promote the teaching of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects in general schools. The implementation of a pilot STEM teaching programme is expected to start during the 2017-2018 academic year.
Simultaneously, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MLISA) will develop a plan to update the vocational training curriculum and tailor it to the labour requirements of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
The Prime Minister is assigning the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to develop taxation and finance policies and mechanisms to encourage enterprises to invest in applying new technology and Research and Development (R&D) in the field of IT and other advanced technology. The MOF will also be reviewing policies and implementing a preferential tax regime to boost IT development in Vietnam.
The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has been assigned to oversee the development of enabling IT infrastructure and to ensure that the 4G mobile network is running smoothly throughout the country by 2018.
As per the Instruction, the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and the Vietnam Academy of Social Science are in charge of studying and evaluating developing trends of the 4th Industrial Revolution and keep the PM updated. Then the government can provide timely instructions to all different ministries and levels of government to modify their missions and development strategies as required.
The Việt Nam Newsreport also mentions that Bắc Ninh Province will be a pilot province for the development of the the smart city model in construction and hi-tech agriculture development. Hà Nam Province will also pilot hi-tech agriculture methods.
Read the article on Việt Nam News (published in Hanoi by the Vietnam News Agency, the news service of the government of Vietnam) here.
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