Budget for science not fully disbursed yet

View of the periodic press conference in the Ministry of Science and Technology. Photo: Ministry of Science and Technology’s Office

Responding to questions relating to the State budget for science and technology valued at 2% each year which has not sufficiently been provided and some organizations lacked money to study meanwhile some have not fully disbursed the supplied amount, Deputy Minister Pham Cong Tac said that the State spared 2% of the total State budget for science and technology as regulated. The amount has been allocated sufficiently.

“Nevertheless, the actual amount for science and technology is below 2% because we have to keep an emergency amount for security and defense concerning science and technology. When the Ministry of Science and Technology shared views with the Ministry of Finance and the National Assembly, the emergency amount has been significantly increased over recent years. Thus, the actual remainder for science and technology is below 1.5% which is not enough for an efficient operation” added Mr. Pham Cong Tac.

According to Pham Cong Tac, the State management in science and technology has focused on the objectives of reform and enhancement of research quality in important fields. Despite the difficult situation, the State has invested appropriately in science and technology from the State budget.

“The State management in basic science and technology has been adjusted by the laws. The system of guiding documents has been sufficiently published at all levels by ministries and agencies. Policies and the legislation on science and technology development in the fields of norms, standards, measurement, quality, high technology, technology transfer, intellectual property rights…are getting reformed and completed, creating a legal environment in a synchronous and convenient manner” stressed Mr. Pham Cong Tac.

From other sources, at the fourth session of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on October 4th, 2016, many participants said that the budget for science and technology had not provided sufficiently for the past years as regulated. Addressing the meeting, the Chairwoman of the National Assembly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan stressed that the Party and the State paid special attention to the policy of science and technology development, confirming improvement in science and technology, education and training as the first prioritized policy. Therefore, the two fields (science-technology and education – training) have been prescribed in terms of expenditure proportions.

Accordingly, the proportion for science and technology development in Viet Nam is now 2% of the total State Budget. However, this amount has never fully been disbursed. The Chairwoman affirmed although the improvement in science and technology had not satisfied expectations, the right policies, legislation and guidelines in strengthening science and technology had contributed to national development.