Vietnam appoints new science minister

The awarding ceremony was held Sunday at the headquarters of the Ministry of Science and Technology in the presence of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam.

Congratulating Dat on his new assignment, Phuc expressed his belief that the minister will make "breakthrough contributions". Dat is experienced in many fields and has showcased impressive achievements and displayed great managerial skills when leading the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCM), the PM said.

"Combining his management experience with new approaches, Associate Professor Huynh Thanh Dat is expected to lead the country's science and technology towards stronger development," he said.

Phuc suggested that Dat focuses on four major tasks: developing policies for science and technology development, mechanisms to promote enterprise development, research facilities that attract investment resources from enterprises and technology adsorption capacity.

In this regard, the ministry has to "strongly apply information technology," the PM added.

At the ceremony, Dat affirmed his determination to perform the four tasks assigned by the Prime Minister, promoting the spirit of cooperation, sharing and creativity of the large domestic and foreign scientific and technological communities in exploiting and developing the nation’s scientific and technological potential.

He said there will be continued focus on synchronous development of social sciences and humanities alongside natural sciences, science and technology.

In particular, Dat said he would promote the transfer, application and development of science and technology as well as innovation and digital transformation to improve the efficiency of linkages between research institutes, universities and enterprises for rapid sustainable socio-economic development.

Prior to the Presidential appointment, the National Assembly had approved Dat, a member of the Party Central Committee and Director of the VNUHCM, as the new Minister of Science and Technology with 92.09 percent of votes in favor.

Chu Ngoc Anh, Dat’s predecessor, is currently Deputy Secretary of Hanoi's Party Committee and Chairman of the city's People's Committee.

Dat, 58, is a native of the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre. He has doctorate in physics.

In 2001, he was appointed chief of office of the VNUHCM and promoted to Vice Director in May 2004. He became the university’s Director in January 2017.

The two priority decisions that he took as the university head were to build a university urban area and significantly improve the quality of education.

The VNUHCM has been listed in many prestigious university rankings in the region and the world. It was ranked first in Vietnam in two important criteria of the QS Asia University Rankings - academic reputation and reputation with employers.