Attracting overseas Vietnamese intellectuals back home is most important: Professor

Overseas Vietnamese present books to children in Truong Sa island district. (Photo: VNA)

The policy to attract overseas Vietnamese (OV) intellectuals will be more successful when it has open mechanisms, clear regulations, and a favourable working environment for scientists to utilise their creativity, according to an OV professor.

This idea was shared by Prof., Dr. Vo Van Toi, currently Assistant to the Board of Directors for the development of science, engineering and technology in health and life, at the International University within the Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City.

In 2009, after more than 40 years of living and working in Switzerland and the US, Toi decided to return to Vietnam and establish the subject of biomedical engineering at the International University, with the desire to contribute more to the homeland.

At that time, in Vietnam, biomedical engineering was not known to many people, and the development of this subject faced many difficulties.

Prof., Dr. Vo Van Toi (Photo: VNA)

However, the faculty has to date gained a lot of achievements in training and research, thus helping the Vietnamese biomedical engineering sector to become known to the international community.

From his story and practical experiences, Toi said that in order to succeed in attracting a contingent of OV intellectuals, it is important to have open mechanisms and clear regulations, and most importantly, the people implementing those policies and mechanisms must be dedicated and talented.

When someone achieves success from those open mechanisms, they will be magnets attracting many others to return to the homeland, he stressed.

According to the professor, Vietnam’s sending of citizens to attend training courses abroad is a good policy. However, it is more important to attract and utilise “brainpower” from abroad./.