The trouble with tech transfer in Vietnam There is a risk in Vietnam of expecting too much in the way of improved international competitiveness from technology transfer from foreign invested enterprises, according to Christian Brix Moller, the Danish Ambassador to Vietnam.  When Moller referred to technology transfer he was referring to proprietary technology – which is protected by intellectual property rights – not the technology that is freely disbursed throughout the public domain. The main reason that countries seeking industrial might become strong is not that they borrow basic technologies, but that they are innovative in developing novel ways to create and market products utilizing those basic technologies, Moller stressed. This is Vietnam’s major problem— its lack of innovation and technological capability to take the initiative in the globalization process and lead in the knowledge based world of ideas combined with action to give those ideas effect. Far too many Vietnamese have misplaced hopes that foreign invested enterprises will somehow divulge all their trade secrets to domestic businesses and this will magically transform the nation and make it more competitive. In fact these expectations are unnervingly unrealistic and never will materialize, a recent study conducted by the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) concluded. In releasing the results of the study, Nguyen Thi Tue Anh, vice director of the CIEM said there are numerous factors that come into play that directly affect business competitiveness, in addition to technology. Surveys of this nature have been conducted for many years and they all consistently show that Vietnam technological innovation though improved remained low in comparison to other countries such as China or Thailand. Anh said a survey on business competitiveness and technology conducted for the five years from 2010 to 2014 by the CIEM in collaboration with a research group from the Copenhagen University both showed the fundamental cause of lack of innovativeness was lack of money. Secondarily the lack of skilful workers sufficiently knowledgeable in understanding and operating state-of-the-art technology was a significant contributing factor. The study suggested that foreign invested enterprises have accounted for only 20% of the technology transfer that took place in the country during the five year period, while the remaining 80% came from the domestic sector.k Dr Neda Trifkovic from Copenhagen University said all the scientific evidence points to the inescapable conclusion that foreign invested enterprises are ineffective with respect to attaining technological advances. Foreign invested enterprises don’t just hand over their intellectual property and trade secrets and factually just the opposite is true— these property rights are legally protected from infringement. Trifkovic said technology transfer in Vietnam mainly occurred among domestic businesses even though they had weaker technologies than the foreign rivals who possessed significantly advanced technologies. In short, Vietnam needs to thoughtfully reconsider its technology transfer strategy Dr Trifkovic concluded. Leading economist Pham Chi Lan, in turn said the survey results demonstrate that Vietnam’s policies to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) are misplaced and need to be re-evaluated. The country has prioritized giving incentives for foreign invested enterprises in the past with the hope that they would transfer state-of-the-art technologies to their domestic partners. Given that expectation has not materialized, Vietnam has provided excessive incentives and the policy should be adjusted to avoid unequal treatment between foreign invested and domestic businesses, Lan emphasized. VOV