Science, technology, and innovation must be the foundation to fulfill the country’s double-digit growth in the coming time, stated Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, head of the Government’s Steering Committee on science and technology development, innovation, digital transformation, and Project 06, while chairing the committee’s first meeting of 2026 on February 25.
PM Pham Minh Chinh underscored the importance of the meeting in effectively implementing key tasks and solutions, in line with the direction of Party General Secretary To Lam to pursue “breakthrough actions and generate spillover effects.”
He stressed that implementation must be more substantive, with goals serving as the guiding orientation and outcomes as the measure of effectiveness. This requires a shift from task-based to results-based thinking and from activities to concrete, quantifiable products assessed through clear performance indicators.
According to the PM, Vietnam is entering a particularly important stage in the development of science and technology in accordance with the Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress. To realize the goal of double-digit economic growth and ensure rapid yet sustainable development, science, technology, and innovation must form the foundation, underpinned by new growth pillars such as the digital, green, and circular economies; artificial intelligence; data; semiconductors; digital infrastructure; and data centers, the PM underlined.
He noted that in 2025, the Politburo’s Resolution No. 57 was implemented resolutely, synchronously, and effectively from the central to grassroots levels, earning broad support from the public and business community and delivering notable results. Nevertheless, shortcomings persist, including gaps between task completion and real effectiveness, difficulties in implementation in some localities, and unresolved bottlenecks related to human resources, digital infrastructure, data, and cybersecurity.
To ensure the meeting leads to tangible progress, the PM called on participants to focus discussions on thoroughly grasping and concretizing the 14th National Party Congress’s resolution on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation, identifying areas that require particular attention.
He also requested an assessment of whether science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation have truly become growth drivers and urged the proposal of breakthrough solutions to accelerate the development of the data economy, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and digital human resources.
The Government leader asked participants to propose and clearly define key tasks and solutions for 2026, identifying priority breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation to contribute to achieving double-digit growth and other assigned targets.
In addition, he called for a review of overdue tasks from previous meetings, with clear accountability assigned; stronger efforts by certain ministries and sectors in building and connecting data systems; and measures to address remaining weaknesses in local infrastructure, particularly at the commune level, including connectivity gaps and power supply constraints.
