Hi-tech parks are making a big play to muscle-up research & development.
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| R&D needs to be nourished if local high-tech firms are to prosper |
To underscore the point, Saigon Hi-tech Park’s (SHTP) management board last week licenced two research and development (R&D) investment certificates for TMA Solutions and the Ministry of Construction’s Southern Construction Material Institute.
The R&D centre of giant software outsourcing company TMA Solutions is capitalised at $5 million and the Southern Construction Material Institute’s centre at VND30 billion ($1.5 million). Both will be located in SHTP’s Science City, a functional zone reserved for hi-tech R&D, training and incubation activities.
TMA’s project will be divided into three phases of development, with three research laboratories for data and new generation networks, embedded system and other new technologies closely following the global development trend. Besides in-house research and development projects, TMA plans to set up joint ventures with local and foreign partners such as Novitell (Denmark), Exceed Global (Australia), Astonis (US) and Viettel (Vietnam) to research and develop new products.
Southern Construction Material Institute’s centre will research new materials, meeting the demand of Ho Chi Minh City and the southern region.
“The licencing these two projects demonstrates SHTP’s priority for R&D, especially those in telecom, information and technology sectors which make great contributions to the development of Vietnam’s hi-tech sector,” said the park’s deputy manager Le Thi Thanh My.
Both of the projects contributed to the increasing number of investment projects in SHTP to 44 with the total fund of $1.84 billion. By the end of this year, the park expected to attract three more projects to reach its targeted $100 million investment capital in 2010, My added.
Meanwhile, Hanoi’s Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park has invested VND300 billion ($15 million) in its business incubator. Last week, Hoa Lac management board announced the establishment of the Hanoi University of Technology inside the park, a collaboration between Vietnamese and French governments, capitalised at $200 million to train skilled hi-tech park workers in Vietnam. “To develop hi-tech industry, we need to resolve two key elements affecting investment decisions of investors which are well-trained workforce and R&D,” said Nguyen Van Lang, deputy minister of Science and Technology.
At present, SHTP and Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park are the two biggest concentrated hi-tech parks in Vietnam. Also, a 1,200 hectare hi-tech park in the central city of Danang is waiting for prime ministerial approval and another hi-tech park in Hue is likely to open.
