Vietnam will have an Advanced Manufacturing Research Center
The information was shared at a meeting between Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan and the delegation of the Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Center (ARTC), under the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Becamex Group, on the morning of July 15.
At the meeting, Mr. David Low, General Director of A*STAR ARTC, expressed his desire to cooperate with Becamex to develop the Vietnam Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (VAMRC), located in VSIP Industrial Park, Ho Chi Minh City.
According to Mr. David Low, Vietnam and Singapore have many complementary advantages and long-term cooperation will bring benefits to both sides. "We do not look at the manufacturing industry within Singapore but on a scale across Southeast Asia," he said, adding that Vietnam has a very dynamic young workforce.
A*STAR ARTC leaders said that the unit currently has solutions for predictive maintenance, energy monitoring and AI, which can be shared with the Vietnam Advanced Manufacturing Research Center for commercialization, through the Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Park system.
From Becamex side, Mr. Nguyen The Duy, Vice President of the group, said that immediately after the two sides signed the memorandum of understanding, work was implemented, with the goal of establishing the center this year.
According to him, the Vietnam Advanced Manufacturing Research Center not only serves Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi but targets the community of thousands of FDI enterprises operating in Vietnam. The center is also expected to create more competitive advantages for the new generation industrial parks that Becamex is developing.
"We hope this will be a pilot center for innovation, especially transferring innovation results into enterprise production activities," Mr. Duy said.
The VAMRC Center will operate according to a "three-house" model, with the participation of universities, businesses and manufacturers. In the next 10-20 years, Becamex expects VAMRC to be able to serve tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.
Introducing VAMRC, Mr. Wong Chow Cher, Assistant General Director of A*STAR ARTC, said that the center will focus on the "Valley of Death" stage - where good research results cannot be commercialized or put into practical operation.
"This is the gap that we expect VAMRC to fill in Vietnam's advanced manufacturing ecosystem," Mr. Wong Chow Cher said, adding that this will help businesses access technology sooner, shortening the gap from research to application in production.
Appreciating the initiative to establish the Vietnam Advanced Manufacturing Research Center, Minister Vu Hai Quan affirmed that the Ministry of Science and Technology will accompany A*STAR and Becamex in the investment process.
The Minister requested Becamex to coordinate with A*STAR to soon develop a specific project, clearly defining the goals, priority areas, governance model, investment needs, financial mechanisms and roles of each party.
Based on the project, the Ministry of Science and Technology will work with relevant units to determine the content and form of support. The Ministry will also consider human resource training programs and develop a team of engineers and experts to serve research, testing and technology transfer activities at this center.
According to the Minister, the VAMRC center will be a place for FDI enterprises, small and medium enterprises and universities to participate in research, testing and creating new technology products. This will be a "new model of cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore", implemented after the visit to Singapore of General Secretary and President To Lam.
Trong Dat