Limited investment in research and poor management have hindered the development of science and technology in the country.

According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, there are 438 national research projects ongoing at the moment, and some have yielded some practical results already in agriculture, new materials, engineering and automation, environmental protection, and disaster prevention, but their progress is reportedly not satisfactory.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment said besides slow progress the other problems are poor quality and lack of practicability.

Funding is also a problem since the outlay on science and technology has never reached 2 per cent of the Government's spending as regulated. It has been trailing off in recent years to 1.46 per cent in 2012, 1.42 per cent last year, and 1.36 per cent this year.

As a result, many research projects are tardy.

In provinces and cities, more than 50 per cent of the funds provided for R&D are usually spent on setting up facilities rather than actual research.

"Two per cent of State budget for research is huge at a time when Viet Nam faces a lot of difficulties, but the investment is not efficient," Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, deputy chairwoman of the National Assembly, said.

The allocation would remain at 2 per cent, but the spending efficacy has to be examined to achieve better results, she added.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the Government planned to spend nearly VND13.7 trillion (US$652.3 million) on science and technology's research and development this year.

But of this, only around VND6 trillion ($285.7 million) will go towards actual research while the rest will be spent on administration.

Source: VNS/VNN