Delegates at a workshop titled ‘Commercialisation of scientific research results’ held in HCM City on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo Tien Luc

The Government should have specific measures to enhance collaboration between academia and businesses so that more research can be converted into practical technology, a workshop heard in HCM City on July 20.

The event, in which many Vietnamese and foreign experts took part and had the theme ‘Commercialisation of scientific research results’, discussed experiences and models in commercialising research outcomes in South Korea, Germany and Australia.

Delegates also discussed the lacunae and barriers that make taking research work from the laboratory to businesses difficult.

Nguyen Minh Huyen Trang, deputy director of the Centre for Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer at the Viet Nam National University in HCM City, said there was a big gap between universities and research institutes on one hand and enterprises on the other.

"When the former want to develop the market for their technologies or find partners to commercialise their scientific research, they come up against policy-related hurdles," she said, adding overlapping and complicated procedures greatly discouraged scientists.

The Government has policies to support businesses and scientists that carry on research, but there are no tools to foster links between scientists and businesses, according to delegates.

Ninety per cent of enterprises in HCM City are micro or small-sized and lack the financial and human resources for R&D.

Meanwhile, businesses focus on short-term commercial goals instead of long-term investment in technology and research.

The country should learn from others such as South Korea and Germany to provide practical support policies to shrink the gap between academia and businesses, the delegates said.

A large number of Vietnamese researchers studied in South Korea and now worked in almost all industries in HCM City, some experts said.

The city should have a model for effective collaboration with that country, and the establishment of a joint business promotion centre with the participation of universities was needed to accelerate this and focus on support policies for research and development at universities and commercialising research results, they added.

The workshop organised by the Saigon Innovation Hub belonging to the Department of Science and Technology was also attended by representatives of universities, research institutes and businesses in the city. — VNS