Currently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade manages 13 institutes, including 2 institutes that have undergone equitization. Each institute has a relatively specialized and independent scope and field of operation within a specific industrial sector, and plays an important role and contribution to the development process of domestic industries.

 

With the motto of linking scientific and technological (S&T) research tasks with the country's socio-economic development programs, meeting market demands, the institutes have actively contributed to the process of innovation and improvement of technical and technological levels of enterprises in the Industry and Trade sector. Many research works have been effectively applied to production and business activities at enterprises, especially corporations and general companies, helping to improve productivity, quality, and competitiveness of enterprises, as well as creating a premise for the lead organizations to continue developing S&T research resources.

 

Dr. Phan Dang Phong – Director of the National Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering, cited that in the field of automation serving the 4.0 industrial revolution, the National Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering has focused on research and mastering technology in smart production lines at automobile, motorcycle, and chemical manufacturing plants. Recently, it has succeeded in researching and mastering the technology of several large projects such as: Automatic motorcycle wheel assembly production line for Vietnam automobile and motorcycle parts manufacturing company, robot welding jig and assembly line for passenger cars – SUVs and welding jig and assembly line for Vinfast electric bus bodies, automatic production line at LIX Company...

 

"The institute has gradually asserted itself in the field of smart manufacturing, contributing to reducing product costs, bringing high economic efficiency to investors, being proactive in changing production technology when new requirements arise, creating stable jobs for the institute with an annual revenue of about 200 billion VND in this field alone," said Dr. Phan Dang Phong.

 

In the field of thermal power, the success of state-level S&T tasks undertaken by the National Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering, such as: Research, design, manufacture, and commissioning of auxiliary equipment systems for coal-fired power plants with unit capacity of about 600 MW, has also created a number of traditional products such as coal supply systems, ash and slag discharge systems, and electrostatic precipitators, bringing great socio-economic benefits. This creates more jobs for domestic mechanical engineering enterprises, reduces product cost by at least 10% compared to similar imported equipment, and reduces the trade deficit by over 100 million USD for one 1200 MW coal-fired thermal power plant.

 

Dr. Dao Duy Anh, Director of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Science and Technology, said that in recent years, the institute has implemented hundreds of research tasks on technology and equipment innovation; technology innovation consultancy; consultancy for establishing and developing mineral exploitation and processing projects, actively contributing to the gradual transformation of technology and equipment in Vietnam's mining industry towards advanced, modern, efficient, and environmentally friendly operations.

 

Specifically, some major mineral exploitation and processing projects in Vietnam developed in recent years with the participation of the institute have contributed to the innovation and modernization of technology and equipment, such as: Quy Xa iron ore beneficiation plant in Lao Cai province with a capacity of 1 million tons/year; Sin Quyen copper flotation plant No. 2 with a capacity of 1.4 million tons/year in Lao Cai province; Superfine zircon grinding plant with a capacity of 36 thousand tons/year in Binh Thuan province...

 

Or, in the paper industry field, topics undertaken by the Institute of Paper and Cellulose Industry in coordination with other units have brought high efficiency, such as: Research on creating biological preparations to decompose tree resin in acacia and eucalyptus wood chips as raw materials for environmentally friendly pulp production in Vietnam; research on technology for creating enzyme grinding aids from thermophilic bacteria – actinomycetes and their application on tissue paper production lines, which have truly created S&T products that partially meet the industry's development requirements, saving energy and chemicals, protecting the environment, and contributing to reducing the trade deficit.

 

 

Dr. Phan Dang Phong assessed that the above successes of the research institutes, in addition to the efforts of the institutes themselves, an important factor is the orientation of the Government, ministries, and sectors. Because without the Government's orientation on localization and without research topics on mastering S&T supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Industry and Trade, the institutes would certainly have great difficulty achieving the above successes.

 

Cargo handling robot system provided by the National Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering

 

However, the Director of the National Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering also pointed out the current situation that although the research units of the Ministry of Industry and Trade have made many efforts in localization and technology mastery, up to now, most complete equipment lines for industries still depend on foreign contractors, resulting in a very low domestic implementation rate, not exceeding 20%, mainly focused on simple products that do not create high added value.

 

Meanwhile, in the coming years, according to the development planning for the electricity, oil and gas, mineral exploitation and processing, paper, construction material production, new energy and renewable energy industries, the market capacity for developing mechanical equipment remains very large, especially complete equipment lines for domestic industries. This is an opportunity to promote domestic research potential.

 

"In the development of thermal power plant equipment, a decisive policy from the State is needed to protect the market for the domestic mechanical engineering industry. For example, when considering assigning units to act as investors for coal-fired thermal power plant projects (including BOT projects), a commitment should be included that the following items must be implemented as a complete package domestically: Coal supply system, ash and slag discharge system, electrostatic precipitator system, circulating cooling water system, distribution substation and main transformer," stated Dr. Phan Dang Phong.

 

On the other hand, to promote the core role in the network of S&T organizations of the Industry and Trade sector, the development strategy of the institutes in the coming years needs to be built in accordance with the development orientation and restructuring goals of each industry as well as in line with the National S&T Development Strategy and the Industry and Trade sector for the period 2021-2030, with a focus on building sufficiently strong applied research institutes with source technologies corresponding to each industrial field and capable of fulfilling the country's major socio-economic development strategy to 2030 with a vision to 2045.

 

"Along with the decisive direction of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the process of restructuring the research institutes under the Ministry, the companionship of domestic universities and mechanical engineering enterprises, and the efforts of scientists, we believe that the research institutes in the coming years will become leading science and technology enterprises in their respective fields, contributing to the success of the country's industrialization and modernization cause," expressed Dr. Phong.

 

Mr. Le Viet Cuong, Deputy Director of the Institute of Energy, shared that in the past 5 years, the Institute of Energy has implemented and completed 51 topics and S&T tasks at the State level, Ministry level, and Institute level... The S&T tasks have closely followed the industry development goals, bringing certain efficiencies, contributing to the development orientation, operation management, production, and business of the electrical energy industry.

 

However, because the Institute of Energy must self-finance all recurrent expenditures, investment, upgrading of laboratories, procurement of equipment and calculation software, and human resource training... still face many limitations and have not met the practical development needs of the Institute. "The Institute will face difficulties in the development process without the attention, support, and investment from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant ministries and sectors," said Mr. Le Viet Cuong.

 

Also according to Mr. Le Viet Cuong, the mechanisms and policies for the operation of public service units in general and the model of public science and technology organizations self-financing recurrent expenditures in particular, implemented under Decree No. 16/2015/ND-CP, Decree No. 54/2016/ND-CP and relevant legal documents, are limited in terms of synchronization, consistency, and lack provisions on specificity, leading to limitations on the autonomy and initiative of the institutes.