Accordingly, in the evening of September 26, in Geneva (Switzerland), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released its 2024 Global Innovation Index (GII).
In the report, Vietnam ascended two places to rank 44th out of 133 nations and economies.
The country’s performance in innovation inputs, encompassing institutional framework, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication, and business sophistication, has exhibited a notable uptick, climbing four positions to 53rd.
Similarly, Vietnam's innovation outputs, comprising knowledge and technology outputs and creative outputs, have seen a substantial improvement, rising four places to 36th.
Vietnam has maintained its second position among lower-middle-income economies, trailing only India. Among upper-middle-income economies, Vietnam is preceded by China, Malaysia, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Thailand. All countries ranked higher than Vietnam are classified as high-income industrialized nations. Within the ASEAN region, Vietnam secured the fourth spot after Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.
WIPO has recognized Vietnam as one of the eight upper-middle-income economies that have demonstrated the most significant improvement in rankings since 2013 besides China, Turkey, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Iran, and Marocco.
Additionally, Vietnam is one of the three nations (along with India and Moldova) that have consistently outperformed their development level for 14 consecutive years. this is because for the past 14 years, its innovation performance has consistently surpassed its development level, indicating the efficacy of converting input resources into innovation outputs.
WIPO's analysis reveals that Vietnam's performance in most pillars exceeds that of other lower-middle-income economies and even some upper-middle-income economies, with the exception of human resources and research.
The 2024 GII highlights Vietnam's global leadership in three key indicators, namely high-technology imports, high-technology exports, and creative goods exports. Furthermore, Vietnam is among the top ten performers in labor productivity growth (3rd place), the number of smartphone applications created (7th place), and the share of business expenditure in total research and development (9th place).
WIPO's GII is a globally recognized benchmark for assessing a nation's innovation capabilities. It provides a comprehensive overview of a country's innovation ecosystem, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. Many governments, including India, China, the Philippines, Colombia, and Brazil, utilize the GII as a reference tool for science, technology, and innovation policymaking.
In Vietnam, the government has been leveraging the GII as a critical management tool and has assigned responsibilities to various ministries, agencies, and localities to enhance the country's innovation performance. The Ministry of Science and Technology serves as the central role for monitoring and coordinating these efforts. Since 2017, Vietnam's GII ranking has steadily improved, rising from 59th in 2016 to 46th in 2023 and 44th in 2024.
