Positive contributions

In recent years, science and technology activities have made important contributions to the socio-economic development of the province. Science and technology have contributed to increasing productivity, quality of goods and services, improving provincial competitiveness, and reforming administrative procedures.

The Ca Mau education sector has made important strides in applying specialized software in teaching. (Photo taken at Hung Vuong Primary School, Ward 5, Ca Mau City).

Science and technology play an increasingly important role in socio-economic development in general and in the fields of agriculture, rural areas and farmers in particular. Every year, many central, provincial and grassroots science and technology topics and projects in various fields are implemented, strongly and effectively expanded. According to statistics, in recent years, provincial science and technology tasks in the field of agriculture have always accounted for over 60% of science and technology tasks approved by the province. Developing science and technology in agriculture is considered the foundation and key driving force to improve productivity, quality, efficiency and competitiveness of agricultural production in the province, contributing to the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, ensuring food security, social security and increasing income for producers and traders in agriculture. Thanks to the contributions of science and technology, the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector in the period from 2021 to present has grown sustainably and stably in a positive direction, the GDP growth rate of the whole sector has reached an average of 3.2%/year, the annual seafood export turnover has reached about 1 billion USD, the quality of agricultural products has grown, and productivity has been increasingly improved.

According to the People's Committee of Ca Mau City, in recent times, the city has always identified the science and technology market as a component of the market economy, playing a key role in promoting innovation activities, improving science and technology capacity, competitiveness of enterprises, as well as the economy. Every year, with the attention and direction of the City Party Committee and guidance from the functional branches of the province, the City People's Committee builds a science and technology activity plan that is always close to the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws. In particular, focusing on implementing a number of activities to develop the local science and technology market, such as conducting a survey of technology needs of organizations and individuals in the city, focusing on the fields of seafood processing, agricultural production and business, and aquaculture. By understanding the technology needs, the city coordinates with the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Industry and Trade, the Department of Agriculture and Environment to search for suitable technologies inside and outside the province through supply and demand connection events in the Mekong Delta provinces, Ho Chi Minh City, exploiting the Technology Supply and Demand Information Portal, through technology introduction of units to consult on technology transfer and connection of technology supply and demand to serve the production and life of organizations and individuals in the city.

Many projects applying science and technology to agricultural production have been implemented in recent years, such as the VietGAP standard rice production model in An Xuyen commune; the 2-phase improved extensive black tiger shrimp farming model in Hoa Tan, Hoa Thanh, Dinh Binh communes, Ward 6; the commercial crab farming model in Tac Van commune; the commercial catfish farming model in ineffective intensive shrimp ponds in Hoa Tan commune; the model of growing melons in greenhouses using drip irrigation systems in Tan Thanh and Ly Van Lam communes...

Still limited and not synchronized

However, it can be seen that the province's starting point in science and technology is low. Ca Mau is a locality far from large cities with developed science and technology, the science and technology market is gradually forming, with very few products (mainly in the agricultural sector) and few science and technology transactions; it is the slowest developing market compared to other commodity and service markets; the province does not have a centralized science and technology exchange.

Regarding enterprise characteristics, according to data from the General Statistics Office, the characteristics of enterprises in the province are mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, which are still young; large enterprises in the province are mainly gas, electricity, nitrogen fertilizer, seafood processing, renewable energy... and do not account for many. The demand for technology of enterprises is generally very low, because currently the level of international integration of most enterprises in the province is not high, and there is not really fierce competition with foreign enterprises, so the pressure to search for, innovate technology, transfer new technology, and advanced technology is not an urgent requirement. In addition, the level of human resources in the majority of enterprises and organizations in the province is mainly unskilled labor, lacking highly skilled labor; along with the lack of awareness of the importance of technological innovation are also factors that hinder the development of enterprises.

According to the Department of Science and Technology, currently the number of universities and colleges in the province is very small, performing the main task of teaching and vocational training (Binh Duong University - Ca Mau Branch, Ca Mau Community College, Vietnam - Korea Vocational College...), not participating much in scientific research activities. As for institutes and research centers, in the province, the main activities are research on plant varieties, science and technology services... but not much. Science and technology tasks mainly focus on the field of agricultural science, causing an imbalance in research and transfer of science and technology.

S&T tasks mainly focus on the field of agricultural science, other fields account for a low proportion, especially the field of science serving socio-economic development.

The representative of the Department of Agriculture and Environment said that the connection between the domestic science and technology market and the world science and technology market, as well as with other domestic markets (especially the labor market and the capital market) is still limited. For the agricultural sector, the biggest barrier to developing the science and technology market in agriculture is the limited transfer and application of science and technology into production, and the lack of connection between the State's science and technology research system and the production force. This barrier needs to be removed to develop a clean, green agriculture, reaching out to the export market on a larger scale and with higher quality.

On the local side, according to the People's Committee of Ca Mau City, from a general perspective, it shows that the development of the science and technology market still has many limitations. Every year, many tasks are set but the current budget for science and technology activities is only at a low level (about 750 million VND/year), not meeting the needs of science and technology development and application, replicating the results from pilot production projects in the city. The number of science and technology tasks mainly focuses on the field of agricultural science, other fields account for a low proportion, especially the field of science serving socio-economic development.

Need support and incentive policies

Science and technology is an inevitable requirement in current development, creating a synchronous and effective science and technology market is a necessary task. There are many opinions that, in developing the science and technology market, Ca Mau needs to increase investment in research, application, and development of science and technology associated with the province's development orientation in depth.

Mr. Vo Thanh Tra, Vice President of the Provincial Union of Science and Technology Associations, said: "Recently, regarding the issue of the science and technology market in the province, we have also organized many seminars to have a more objective view and find fundamental solutions in the current period. Synthesizing the evaluation opinions from relevant agencies and localities, we realize that the local science and technology market is not synchronized in all fields."

According to Mr. Vo Thanh Tra, to overcome these limitations, localities need to connect to promote cooperation between enterprises - research institutes, universities in the direction of ordering technology or forming research projects, technology incubation, science and technology enterprise incubation; support organizations and individuals in evaluating, pricing, and appraising technology; searching, selecting, receiving, and testing technology; exploiting and developing intellectual property...

There should be policies to support and encourage scientific research and application, innovation and development of technology markets to improve product quality, save natural resources and protect the ecological environment. Promote the formation and development of a number of intermediary organizations that play a key role in providing systematic public services on the science and technology market... In addition, activities to promote the science and technology market; training and fostering human resources, and developing national infrastructure for the science and technology market should also be strengthened./.

Van Dum

Source: https://baocamau.vn/tim-giai-phap-can-co-phat-trien-thi-truong-khoa-hoc-va-cong-nghe-a38719.html