Finland helps Vietnam innovate

Vietnam and Finland on March 6 signed the Phase 2 Innovation Program (IPP) Agreement with a total cost of 11 million Euro.

The program is implemented in 4 years (2014 - 2018) by the Ministry of Science and Technology as the governing body. Of the total investment, the Finnish side will grant 9.9 million Euro; the remaining 1.1 million Euro is the counterpart fund of Vietnam.

Minister Nguyen Quan (left) and representatives of Finland signed a cooperation agreement on innovation.(Photo: Bich Lien)

The main objective of IPP phase 2 is to focus on improving the legal documents on science and technology; enhance innovation; support and development of regional products; forming a team of technology innovation consultants to support businesses .

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister Nguyen Quan said that this period will contribute to the Ministry's efforts in continuing to innovate to create breakthroughs in the field of science and technology; facilitating the cohesion between scientists and enterprises, from which there are products with high scientific content value.

Phase 1 of IPP project (2009 - 2014) with a total cost of 7.19 million Euro achieved good results; in which Finland's non-refundable aid accounted for 89%. IPP are highly appreciated by Finland and are considered one of the key projects of the country to support Vietnam.