Snail-paced construction of key national labs

09:01' 12/06/2007 (GMT+7)

Enzyme & protein technology lab at the Hanoi-based National University. VietNamNet Bridge – According to a government scheme, 17 key national labs were to be put into operation at the end of 2005, but as of this moment only two are fully operational. Huge investment In 2000 the Prime Minister approved the scheme to build key national laboratories based on the existing labs. Under this scheme, Vietnam was to have 17 laboratories by the end of 2005 but in fact, only ten labs are operating. 17 key national laboratories focus on seven fields of science and technology, including biotechnology (five labs), information technology (3), material technology and engineering (4), petrochemistry and energy (2), and other fields (3). According to La Van Chinh from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, of the ten labs that were checked and taken over, only two were completed in 2004, including the Genetic Technology Lab of the Biotechnology Institute and the Polymer & Composite Lab of the Hanoi University of Technology. “Only those two labs perform the functions of key national labs. The remaining labs are still operating like normal labs that are not different from they way they were in the past,” Mr Chinh commented. Even the two above labs haven’t produced any practical inventions or scientific and technological advances yet. The total investment for the 17 key national laboratories is more than VND1 trillion (US$62.5 million), averaging VND66 billion ($4.125 million) for each lab. The highest level of investment is VND170 billion ($10.625 million) in the ship model testing lab of the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. Such huge investment is mainly for purchasing equipment. According to Mr Chinh, equipment in Vietnam’s key national labs can compare to or even be more modern than that in labs in the region and the world. Foreign equipment, local thinking According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Polymer & Composite material lab is operating the most effectively of the ten existing key national labs. However, accounting tasks related to this project are not completed yet. Going to the Vietnam Science and Technology Institute which houses up to four key national labs, reporters can meet only the manager of the Genetic Technology Lab. The characteristic of key national labs is they have modern and high-value equipment so state investment is huge. As a result, these projects require a rapid pace of construction, specifically four years. However, most of these projects have exceeded their deadlines. As they have to wait for imported equipment, equipment that was imported early must operate perfunctorily to wait for other equipment. Consequently, it quickly breaks down, Mr Chinh said. Another problem is that equipment is modern and up to international standards while experts who operate this equipment are mainly from old labs and they need further training, which also takes time. As a result, the deadline has been changed to the end of 2008. At that snail-pace, thousands of billion dong of investment are being wasted. (Source: Viet Nam Net)