Decision No. 53/2008/QD-BCT of December 30, 2008, approving the strategy for development of hi-tech industries up to 2020

DECISION

APPROVING THE STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF HI-TECH INDUSTRIES UP TO 2020

THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 189/2007/ND-CP of December 27, 2007. defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;
Pursuant to the Prime Minister's opinions in Official Utter No. 3174/VPCP-CN of June 11. 2007, authorizing the Minister of Industry (now the Minister of Industry and Trade) to approve the Strategy for development of hi-tech industries up to 2020;
Considering Report No. 655/TTr-VCL of December 19, 2008, of the director of the Institute for Industrial Strategy and Policy Research;
At the proposal of the director of the Science and Technology Department,

DECIDES:

Article 1. To approve the Strategy for development of hi-tech industries up to 2020 with the following principal contents:

1. Development viewpoints:

- The development of hi-tech industries aims to raise productivity and quality of products or turn out new products with a high added value based on the application of scientific and technological advances:

- The development of hi-tech industries must be in line with the Strategy for development of Vietnam's industries up to 2020, and serve the objectives of national industrialization and modernization to turn the country into a modern industrialized one by 2020.

- Hi-tech industries prioritized for development must be "priority and spearhead" ones playing the role as a driving force for the development of other industries:

- The development of hi-tech industries must have an appropriate roadmap with the first stage for assimilation, mastering and adaptation of imported technologies and subsequent stages for application of domestically created high technologies suitable to the capability of the national economy up to 2020;

- The development of hi-tech industries must be closely linked with development of hi-tech human resources;

- High technologies applied to industries must ensure sustainable development and environmental protection.

2. Objectives:

a/ General objectives:

To concentrate investment on the application of high technologies to a number of priority and spearhead industries which prop up the development of other industries: industries which bring about a high added value and employ high-quality scientific and technological human resources; industries which make use of the world's latest scientific and technological advances and tend to strongly develop in the future; industries which are able to integrate and join in the global production chain; and industries which require capabilities and resources suitable to the national economy's conditions in a certain period (from now to 2020). including:

- Electronics-informatics;

- Mechanical engineering;

- Metallurgy;

- Chemicals;

b/ Food processing:

- Energy.

b/ .Specific objectives:

- By 2020, to increase the production value of hi-tech industries, ensuring an added value of 42-45% to the total industrial production value;

- To restructure industries in the direction of increasing the proportion of hi-tech ones. To increase investments in research and development in hi-tech industries from the current 0.2-0.3% of turnover to 3.5-5% and 8-10% by 2015 and 2020. respectively:

- To increase investments in renewing existing technologies with high technologies, striving to increase the ratio of investment in machinery and equipment renovation from the current 8-10% to 10-15% and over 20% by 2015 and 2020. respectively;

- To attach importance to training hi-tech human resources to meet the needs of hi-tech industries in each development period.

3. Strategic orientations for development of a number of hi-tech industries

a/ Electronics-informatics:

- High technologies applied to electronics-informatics must be state-of-the-art and received directly, not through any intermediary, from countries where they are created;

- High technologies must be selectively applied, focusing on nano technology, laser technology, mechano-electronic technology, technologies for manufacturing new materials in the optical- mechano-electronic field, measuring and automatic control devices, bio-medical electronic instruments, telecommunications equipment, etc;

- To strive for the target that by 2020. the production value of electronics-informatics will account for 20% of the total industrial production value.

b/ Mechanical engineering:

- Mechanical engineering is a basic industry which supports and promotes the development of other industries. From now to 2020. the application of high technologies to mechanical engineering should pay attention to wide application of CAD/ CAM/CNC to manufacturing machines and equipment in complete sets, motors - agricultural machines, construction machines and equipment, electric machines and equipment, automobiles, ships, medical machines and equipment; defense equipment, weapons and gears, etc.. application of digital program-controlled machines and equipment to most stages or steps of mass production or manufacture of high-precision details and parts:

- To strive for the target that by 2015. our mechanics will be able to master software designing and assemble hardware of industrial computers in order to replace about 10% of existing machines and equipment of mechanical engineering factories with digital program-controlled machines; and to research, design and manufacture part of modern machine models (applying PLC and CNC technologies) and special processing equipment in order to meet 20-30% of domestic needs and join in the global production chain. By 2020, to basically complete the modernization and renovation of metal-working machines and equipment by applying CNC to mechanical engineering factories; manufacture and assemble machines and equipment to meet 35-50% of the needs of industrial enterprises for CNC machines and equipment; research and assemble automated, smart, energy-saving and non-polluting equipment and devices to partially meet civil needs; and research and use new materials to manufacture machines and equipment.

c/ Metallurgy:

Metallurgy is an important industry serving as a prerequisite for the development of other industries, especially mechanical engineering and electronics. From now to 2020. the application of high technologies to metallurgy should pay attention to both ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, specifically:

- For ferrous metallurgy, to apply high technologies to systems automatically controlling the metallurgical process (from input raw materials to output finished products); to apply software and integrated programs to controlling the process; and use equipment for automatic adjustment and control (temperature and pressure control);

- For non-ferrous metallurgy, to apply high technologies to rough and fine refining of tin. production of high-purity tin to meet the needs of electronics and food industries; to refine copper in liquid tank furnaces and converting furnaces or by pyrometallurgical or electrolysis refining methods to obtain copper M(i; to apply technologies for processing poor antimony ores with a content of under 3%; to apply hydrometallurgical. sintering-solvent extraction and electrolysis technologies to obtain pure zinc: to apply high technologies to produce A 1,0.,.

d/ Chemicals:

- In the application of high technologies to the chemical industry, investment should be concentrated on developing the production of chemicals for agricultural and industrial production and pharmaceutical chemicals for public health care. Applied high technologies must help protect the ecological environment and save energy;

- For chemical products for agricultural production: Fertilizers: To apply high technologies to phosphorous, NPK and bio-organic fertilizer plants; and to invest in plants to produce nitrogenous fertilizers from natural gases and coal. NPK fertilizer by hi-tech methods or DAP fertilizer. Plant protection drugs: To step up research and production of plant protection drugs of biological origin; and to use active ingredients of new generations and less-polluting solvents in compliance with regional and international regulations;

- For chemical products for industrial production: By 2020. to master high technologies to produce sulfuric acid H,S04; to apply advanced double-exposure, double-absorption and catalytic converting technologies and new technologies to produce phosphoric acid H1P04. High technologies should also be applied to produce base chemicals for the sufficient supply of acids of all kinds for fertilizer production, caustic soda for ore sorting, manufacture of textiles, paper, detergents, titanium and magnesium oxides. Electrochemical products: To step by step apply high technologies to manufacture special-type cells and accumulators and rare gases;

- Pharmaceutical chemicals: To apply advanced and modern high technologies to pharmaco-chemistry, contributing to developing pharmaco-chemistry into a spearhead econo-technical branch capable of manufacturing and supplying sufficient materials for manufacturing essential medicines, and proceeding to adequately manufacture these medicines at home.

e/ Food processing:

- To apply high technologies to the food processing industry in order to raise economic efficiency and ensure reasonable production costs and high quality of food products;

- High technologies should be applied to increase the proportion of deeply processed products and the added value of products, and considerably reduce wastage at the preservation stage for the targets that from now to 2015 the wastage rate of paddy and rice will be reduced from 3% to 0.7-1%. vegetables and fruits from 30-35% to 10-15% and aquatic products from 25-30% to 10-15%;

- To step by step increase the application of high technologies to the food processing industry. To strive for the target that by 2020 Vietnam will industrially process 70-80% of its agricultural and aquatic raw materials, 30% of which will be processed with high technologies;

- To promote the application of high technologies in order to raise the capability to control food hygiene and safety in production and increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese food products in terms of food safety and hygiene;

- From now to 2010. the application of high technologies to the food processing industry should pay attention to the following aspects:

Milk and dairy product processing: Technology for cold preservation in the process of milk intake; skimming technology for manufacturing skim powdered milk; technology for blending and diversifying functional milks; technology for producing additives, processing enhancers, added trace elements; technology for producing butter; technology for cheese fermentation and storage: technology for manufacturing anti-contamination multi-layer packages; technology for processing sweet butter and fermented butter; technology for heat-drying powdered milk, including skim powdered milk and full-cream powdered milk;

Beverage industry: Technology using dry brewer's yeasts in fermentation and technology for shortened fermentation; technology for brewing strong beers; energy-saving technology for chilling with circulated ice water and recovering steam from hops boiling kettles: technology for sterile filtration; technology for cooking raw materials in liquor production by the steam-whirlpooling method; technology for vacuum and multi-pressure distillation and purification; technology for high-temperature pasteurization in the production of beer, liquor and beverages of the same quality as imports; technology for processing fruit juices at high pressures and low temperatures; technology for processing tonics and functional beverages; technology for separating soluble protein from soybean;

Food processing industry: Technology for automated chain-processing of rice; technology for preserving foods in systems of closed silos using inert gases; technology for preserving foods at low temperatures or using active agents of herb origin;

Cane sugar industry: Technology for extracting sugar from raw material sugarcane using diffused thermal solvents; SAT technology; CTI technology; technology for bleaching by the ion method;

Aquatic and marine product and meat processing industry: To apply chilling technology, canned food processing technology, refrigerating technology, technology for preservation by irradiation or ultrasonic wave to the preliminary processing, processing and preservation of products;

Vegetable and fruit processing industry: Technology for preservation with the use of substances of herbal origin, and technology for raising product quality and improving food hygiene and safety.

f/ Energy industry:

- Energy has become a great challenge to the achievement of the economic growth objective, necessitating the application of high technologies to assure the efficiency of production and business operations of the energy industry and provide high-quality services for assuring national energy security;

- The application of high technologies to the energy industry should be accelerated, focusing first of all on high technologies which are highly applicable, effective, and environmentally friendly:

- From now to 2020. to focus on applying high technologies in the following domains:

Electricity generation: For thermal power plants: To apply high technologies in existing plants to optimize their input materials and increase their readiness (or utility) coefficient, and to their measuring, control and protection systems in order to increase their reliability and efficiency. For hydropower plants: To apply high technologies to the exploitation and general use of water sources of their reservoirs, building of reservoir observation and management and spillway management systems to ensure the effective and safe operation of these plants. To build hydropower spillways on the basis of rationally applying new material and building technologies in the world. To apply hi-tech hydropower equipment of high performance and reliability to building new generator units or replacing old ones; to install modem automatic control systems. For renewable energies: To apply high technologies to the generation of solar power, wind power, biogas, biomass and geothermal energy in various forms for households and residential quarters or of large outputs for supply to the national power grid. In the future, to strive to manufacture new energy equipment at home. For nuclear power: To further research into nuclear safety and atomic power technologies which are widely used at present.

Electricity transmission and distribution: To develop highly reliable electricity transmission and distribution systems which are capable of flexibly supplying electricity and self-fixing on the basis of applying high technologies;

Application of high technologies to electricity regulation and control: To improve the national regulation center and regional regulation centers: to install supervisory control and data acquisition/ energy management systems (SCADA/EMS) at 110 kV. 220 kV and 500 kV transformer stations;

To build complete and modern information technology systems applying high technologies for the power sector.

4. Policies and solutions

a/ Financial policies

- To give import duty exemption or reduction for machines and equipment for the application of high technologies to existing production chains of enterprises;

- The State provides interest rate supports or guarantees for loans for investment in hi-tech projects;

- Enterprises that invest in high technologies may depreciate their machines and equipment more rapidly as deductible expenses upon profit tax determination.

b/ Policies to assist industrial enterprises in technology research and renovation and high technology application

- The State wholly or partially subsidies expenses for the receipt of transferred technologies, training of human resources for hi-tech projects; encourages the implementation of training cooperation programs between foreign-invested companies and domestic suppliers (domestic allied industry enterprises) and the attraction of overseas Vietnamese intellectuals for the development of hi-tech industries;

- The State allocates state budget funds for hi-tech research and application programs and schemes or the creation of hi-tech products;

- To intensify the supply of information to enterprises, for the purpose of applying high technologies to their production or protecting their intellectual property rights. The State assists enterprises in conducting trade promotion or seeking hi-tech supplying sources.

c/ Policies to encourage foreign investors to transfer high technologies in Vietnam

The State creates all favorable conditions for foreign investors to transfer high technologies for application in Vietnam and concurrently improves the policy on sale of shares of equitized enterprises in industries prioritized for hi-tech development and application to foreign enterprises, organizations and individuals.

Article 2. Organization of implementation

1. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries and branches and provincial-level People's Committees in, organizing the implementation of this Strategy.

2. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education and Training in specifying solutions and policies set forth in this Decision.

3. Provincial-level People's Committees shall base themselves on this Strategy to study and elaborate programs on application of high technologies to local industries, including proposal of support mechanisms and policies to provincial-level People's Committees for approval and implementation direction; join ministries and branches in inspecting and overseeing the implementation of this Strategy in their localities in order to ensure its uniformity and accordance with local socio-economic development master plans.

Article 3. This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in "CONG BAO."

Article 4. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies, presidents of provincial-level People's Committees, and concerned agencies shall implement this Decision.