Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam speaks at the ceremony in Hanoi on November 2nd, 2019. Photo: VGP

A ceremony was held on Saturday in Hanoi to honor 112 outstanding intellectuals and scientists whose have made significant contributions to national development. Associate Professor. Dr. Ha Ngoc Truong, one of the awardees, said: "I’m working on a high-speed railway project, especially the Japanese high-speed railway system that will be applied in Vietnam in the near future. Another project that I’m also working on is about how to turn Ho Chi Minh City into a smart city with a modern traffic technological system. We dream of creating a smart traffic system for Vietnam to meet the people’s increasing demands in the future."

Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam pledged that the Party and State will pay more attention to boosting Vietnam’s potentials in science and technology while grabbing all opportunities of the 4^th Industrial Revolution for national development. "We need a total new mindset not only to devise new economic policies to engage businesses in science and technology development but also to create new policies to better manage government’s investment in science and technology. I hope that we will soon complete an open-minded policy framework on science and technology management to encourage further contributions of Vietnamese intellectuals and scientists for national development," said Mr. Dam.