Public Procurement for Innovation in Vietnam: Rationales and Perspectives

Public Procurement for Innovation in Vietnam: Rationales and Perspectives

Public procurement for innovation (PPI) is a new approach in stimulating innovation, and currently attracts considerable attention from policymakers and academics. This paper discusses the rationales and perspectives of PPI in Vietnam. The rationales for public procurement for innovation policy in Vietnam compared to theoretical and international practice are discussed. From such a comparison, the paper concludes that R&D results-procurement policy in Vietnam shall be understood and implemented as regular PPI both theoretically and practically. However while designing the policy, policymakers must consider the characteristics of the STI system of the country in order to make the policy adaptable to context. The paper identifies that PPI in Vietnam can be implemented with a ready legal framework (intellectual property rights, R&D contracts, standardization, etc.), the prepared capabilities of R&D institutions, businesses, and public agencies in innovation processes, and the provision of a demand-supply network and other procurement incentives.