President Calls for Cooperation of International Scientists in Development

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and international scientists and Nobel laureates pose for a group photo. Photo: VNA

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosted a reception in Hanoi on September 16 for a number of international scientists and Nobel laureates who are in Vietnam to attend the “Science, Ethics and Human Development” conference within the framework of the 13th Meet Vietnam program, VietnamPlus reported.

During the meeting, the President spoke highly of the theme of the conference, saying that the event’s contents are close to Vietnam’s vision and development strategy.

Opinions from scientists at the conference will be collected for reference during Vietnam’s policymaking and administration work, he stressed.

He highlighted the crucial role played by science – technology, and innovation in promoting rapid and sustainable development in Vietnam, noting that these areas are the leading national policy deciders and a key motivations for modern and sustainable industrial development with high growth.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosted a reception in Hanoi on September 16 for a number of international scientists and Nobel laureates. Photo: VNA

Vietnam always focuses on comprehensive human development and promoting the creativity of its people, while ensuring social security, healthcare, improving living standards, and leaving no one behind, he said.

Vietnam has been making efforts to implement the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs – 2030), he said, adding that Vietnam’s decisions are geared towards sustainable development, so the application of science and technology or the allocation of resources is not aimed solely at high growth, but at the protection of its people and the environment.

Last year, Vietnam was named among the world’s top 40 economies with the largest GDP in the world, and the 16 most successful emerging economies globally. According to the UN’s 2021 rankings, Vietnam ranked 49th in the SDG ranking and 115th in the global Human Development Index.

The President said Vietnam hopes to receive support and cooperation from the international community, especially from scientists attending the conference, helping it reach the goal of becoming a developed country with a high income by 2045.

More than 50 domestic and foreign scientists attended the “Science, Ethics and Human Development” conference held in Quy Nhon city, central Binh Dinh province, from September 13-16.

Panelists in a discussion on science and policy-making. Photo: VNA

The event is the third in a series of international conferences on science and society, which has been organized regularly since 2016 by the association Rencontres du Vietnam, under the leadership of Vietnamese-born physicist Jean Tran Thanh Van.

“Science, Ethics and Human Development” is the flagship continental event for Asia in the context of the International Year of Basic Science for Sustainable Development 2022 (IYBSSD), which focuses on the links between basic sciences and the Sustainable Development Goals, for the common good, according to Viet Nam News.

Topics of discussion included environment and biodiversity; sustainability and resources; health and manipulating living organisms, challenges, opportunities and ethics in science education, artificial intelligence and augmented mankind; emergent technologies, nanotech, biotech; science, peace and disarmament./.