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PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP POLICY IN HIGH-TECH INNOVATION
IN VIETNAM

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Phan The Cong* , Pham Thi Minh Uyen , Nguyen Duc Anh 3
2
1, 2, 3 Thuongmai University, Hanoi, Vietnam.
(*E-mail: congpt@tmu.edu.vn)

ABSTRACT
This article examines the role, current state, and policy prospects of public-private
partnership (PPP) in promoting high-tech innovation in Vietnam. Using a qualitative
approach based on document analysis and comparative policy review, it analyzes
Vietnam’s emerging legal framework, especially the 2025 Law on Science, Technology and
Innovation and Decree No. 180/2025/ND-CP, in comparison with selected international
experiences. The findings show that Vietnam has taken an important institutional step by
extending PPP from traditional infrastructure to science, technology, innovation, and
digital transformation. However, implementation remains at an early stage, with notable
gaps in project preparation, risk-sharing, incentives, institutional coordination, and
commercialization mechanisms. International experience suggests that effective
innovation-oriented PPP requires not only legal authorization but also a catalytic role of
the State, flexible governance, professional implementation capacity, and credible
benefit-sharing arrangements. On that basis, the article proposes policy directions for
Vietnam, including improving legal coherence, developing strategic project pipelines,
strengthening financial and risk-sharing mechanisms, enhancing implementation capacity,
and expanding international cooperation. Overall, PPP should be understood as an
emerging governance model rather than merely a new legal instrument.
Keywords: Public-private partnership; high-tech innovation; innovation policy;
Vietnam; science and technology; PPP governance.

1. Introduction
High-tech innovation has become a central driver of productivity, competitiveness,
and structural transformation in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. For Vietnam,
strengthening science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation is no longer
only a sectoral objective; it is a strategic requirement for achieving sustainable growth,
escaping the middle-income trap, and improving national resilience in an increasingly
technology-driven global economy. In this context, PPP is receiving growing attention as a
policy instrument capable of mobilizing private resources, distributing innovation risks,
and accelerating the transition from research to commercialization.
Recent policy orientations of the Party and the State have reinforced this direction.
Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW (2024) identifies science, technology, innovation, and digital
transformation as breakthrough drivers of national development and emphasizes the
need to mobilize social resources through stronger public-private cooperation. This policy
orientation reflects a broader shift in development thinking: instead of relying mainly on
public funding and state-led administrative allocation, the government is increasingly
seeking to build enabling institutions through which enterprises, research organizations,
and public agencies can jointly create and apply new technologies.

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