Spurring inventive advancements globally begins in Vietnam
Australia is strengthening Vietnam's innovation system with the Aus4Innovation program, a 10-year, $33.5 million government-funded initiative. The partnership between Australia's CSIRO and Vietnam's National Agency for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialisation (NATEC) is designed to improve innovation policy design, evaluation, and implementation [1].
This collaboration is paving the way for evidence-based and performance-driven policies that drive economic growth, social equity, and environmental sustainability in Vietnam. Aus4Innovation offers capacity-building events and training workshops, such as those held in July 2025, focusing on innovation policy impact evaluation, regulatory impact assessment (RIA) tools, and policy design integrating social and environmental factors [1].
Experts from Australia's CSIRO are involved in these initiatives, contributing to the strengthening of Vietnam's national innovation system [1]. The program also supports digital transformation projects in Vietnam, helping to modernize and enhance innovation ecosystems [3].
One of the key benefits of this partnership is Phong Thuy Company's access to high-quality research advice and joint R&D projects. This collaboration enabled Phong Thuy to experiment with novel varieties and farming techniques, significantly contributing to the company's high sustainable growth [2].
Phong Thuy Company, a leader in high-tech horticultural farming in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, formed a partnership with the Institute of Agriculture Science for Southern Vietnam through the Horticulture Innovation Club established by A4I [2]. Several hundred farmers in the region and from the Mekong Delta have visited Phong Thuy's farming operations models and brought back knowledge and technologies to apply on their own farms [2].
The quality of policy can make or break a technology's application in the real world. Delaying the approval process for technology could render it obsolete and hinder its adoption by businesses [5]. To address this issue, Vietnam enacted Resolution 193 in February, a collection of mechanisms and policies to support the entire innovation pipeline. This includes public research organisations retaining intellectual property rights to research and investing in spin-offs to commercialise their findings [6].
Inconsistent and non-aligned policies with practical realities can disincentivise research organisations [3]. To overcome this challenge, Dr Ha Phuong Thu, a scientist involved in A4I, explains the innovation process from the researcher's perspective, including idea development, systematic research, technology development and optimization, patent protection, and seeking partnerships with businesses for market development [4].
International collaboration is crucial for innovation, with trust being essential for support and investment. Open communication, mutual trust, and a willingness to share challenges and insights are key to fruitful collaboration [2]. The A4I program aims to run until 2028, focusing on supporting the Vietnamese government in implementing policies that enable innovation and support the country's economic and sustainable development ambitions [4].
A strong innovation system requires cohesion, connectivity, and communication among actors such as farmers, businesses, government, and research organisations. The Commercialisation PLUS guide, co-developed and tested by CSIRO and Vietnamese partners, supports researchers in Vietnam to better understand the innovation system and navigate the commercialization process [7].
Pham Duc Nghiem, the Deputy Director of NATEC, identifies three barriers to innovation: lack of awareness, inadequate legal and regulatory framework, and limited infrastructure and technological adoption capabilities of enterprises [7]. The Aus4Innovation program is designed to address these challenges and catalyse systemic reforms in science, technology, and entrepreneurship in Vietnam [1][4].
In conclusion, the Aus4Innovation program, in partnership with NATEC, improves Vietnam’s innovation capacity by transferring knowledge, tools, and expertise to design effective innovation policies, promote technology commercialization, and catalyse systemic reforms in science, technology, and entrepreneurship. This structured cooperation aims to create significant socio-economic and environmental impacts in Vietnam’s development [1][4].
The Aus4Innovation program fosters a partnership between Australia's CSIRO and Vietnam's National Agency for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialisation (NATEC), with a focus on enhancing innovation policies, technology commercialization, and promoting systemic reforms in science, technology, education-and-self-development, and entrepreneurship in Vietnam. This collaboration aims to create significant socio-economic and environmental impacts, as seen in Phong Thuy Company's high sustainable growth through access to research advice and joint R&D projects.
In line with its mission, Aus4Innovation organizes capacity-building events and training workshops, such as those focusing on innovation policy impact evaluation, regulatory impact assessment (RIA) tools, and policy design integrating social and environmental factors, to support Vietnam's digital transformation projects and modernize innovation ecosystems.
