UEH Co-Hosts National Scientific Conference "Innovating Vietnam's Development Model to Meet the Demands of the New Era" and Signs Public Policy Research and Advisory Cooperation Agreement with NEU

21 Aug, 2026

On the morning of August 20, 2026, in Hanoi, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH), National Economics University (NEU), Nhan Dan Newspaper, and the Communist Review jointly organized the National Scientific Conference "Innovating Vietnam's Development Model to Meet the Demands of the New Era." Within the framework of the conference, UEH and NEU signed a Cooperation Agreement on public policy research and advisory services.

An overview of the National Scientific Conference "Renewing Vietnam’s Development Model to Meet the Requirements

The conference brought together some 250-300 delegates, including leaders of Party agencies, the National Assembly and the Government, along with experts, scientists and representatives of the business community. The forum focused on clarifying the scientific and practical basis for implementing Resolution 19-NQ/TW dated 28 July 2026 of the Party Central Committee, centring on three groups of issues: drivers of economic growth and new development drivers; cultural, social and environmental development; and institutional reform and the renewal of national governance - towards the goal of Vietnam becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045.

An overview of the national scientific conference, on the morning of 20 August 2026 in Hanoi

The UEH delegation attending the conference included Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bùi Quang Hùng - Secretary of the Party Committee, President of UEH; Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Khắc Quốc Bảo - Vice President of UEH; Prof. Dr. Sử Đình Thành - Chairman, UEH Academic and Scientific Council; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Thị Bích Nguyệt - Chairwoman of the UEH Alumni Executive Board; Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Trọng Hoài - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phạm Khánh Nam - Head of the Department of Research, Global Engagement and Development.

Delivering the welcome remarks, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bùi Đức Thọ - Secretary of the Party Committee, President of NEU affirmed that 2026 is a special milestone for two institutions with a long-standing relationship: NEU marks its 70th anniversary and UEH its 50th. He emphasized that higher education institutions are not only places for imparting knowledge and supplying high-quality human resources, but must also serve as trusted sources of research and policy advice for the Party, the State, localities and the business community.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bùi Đức Thọ - Secretary of the Party Committee, President of the National Economics University delivers the welcome remarks

Delivering the framing remarks, Mr. Lê Quốc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Commission and Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association, raised a number of issues for the conference to discuss, focusing on the development model after 40 years of Doi Moi and the identification of bottlenecks; the establishment of new growth drivers from science and technology and innovation; and the resolution on renewing Vietnam’s development model.

Mr. Lê Quốc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper delivers the framing remarks of the conference

Signing of the UEH - NEU Agreement on Public Policy Research and Advisory Cooperation

Within the framework of the conference, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bùi Đức Thọ - Secretary of the Party Committee, President of NEU and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bùi Quang Hùng - Secretary of the Party Committee, President of UEH signed an Agreement on public policy research and advisory cooperation between the two universities.

The agreement establishes a formal framework for the two institutions’ public policy research groups, focusing on jointly carrying out national-level research tasks, publishing annual reports and rapid-response policy briefs; while optimizing shared resources in data infrastructure, AI technology and expert networks, with a view to providing timely and effective policy advice to State management agencies.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bùi Đức Thọ - President of NEU and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bùi Quang Hùng - President of UEH sign the Agreement on public policy research and advisory cooperation between the two universities

The agreement aims to optimize the two universities’ shared resources in data infrastructure, AI technology and expert networks

Three academic highlights from UEH at the conference

At the conference, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bùi Quang Hùng - President of UEH joined the chairing panel alongside the leadership of the National Economics University, Nhan Dan Newspaper and the Communist Review, guiding the direction of the presentations and discussions in this national policy forum.

The chairing panel moderates and steers the topics of exchange at the conference

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bùi Quang Hùng - Secretary of the Party Committee, President of UEH steers the topics of exchange at the conference

The aspiration to high-income status and the “3i” model

Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Trọng Hoài - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies (JABES) presented the paper “The aspiration to become a high-income country: diagnosis and policy implications for Vietnam”. He proposed shifting from a “1i” growth model - relying mainly on Investment - to a “3i” model: Investment - Infusion - Innovation, in which “Infusion” (technology absorption and diffusion) is the missing link enabling domestic enterprises to participate more deeply in global value chains.

Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Trọng Hoài - Senior Lecturer at UEH presents the paper "The aspiration to become a high-income country: diagnosis and policy implications for Vietnam"

Policy and the innovation capacity of enterprises

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Thị Bích Nguyệt - Chairwoman of UEH Alumni contributed her views on the policy system and the innovation capacity of Vietnamese enterprises in the new context. With micro-enterprises accounting for around 85% of all businesses, she pointed to a gap that leaves many small and medium-sized enterprises with “no one to turn to in order to access and benefit from those policies effectively”, thereby emphasizing the need to build sufficiently strong intermediary institutions.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Thị Bích Nguyệt contributes to the discussion on the policy system and the innovation capacity of Vietnamese enterprises in the new context

Growth conditions and the efficient use of resources

Prof. Dr. Sử Đình Thành - Chairman, UEH Academic and Scientific Council gave an in-depth address on Vietnam’s growth conditions, the quality of resource mobilization and the efficiency of using development resources - a set of key issues as the economy shifts from a model based on the scale of investment to one based on efficiency.

Prof. Dr. Sử Đình Thành - Chairman, UEH Academic and Scientific Council speaks on Vietnam’s growth conditions, the quality of resource mobilization and the efficiency of using development resources

The contributions from UEH representatives helped clarify the need to shift the development model from extensive to intensive growth, based on science and technology, innovation and human capacity; while affirming UEH’s role in research and policy advice in service of national development.

As a co-organizer, UEH’s signing of the cooperation agreement with NEU and the academic contributions of its scientists at the conference further demonstrate the University’s enduring commitment to accompanying the Party, the State and the business community on the country’s journey of renewing its development model in a new era.

At the same time, this is a concrete step towards realizing the University - City Innovation Hub model, harnessing the role of the university as a nucleus connecting knowledge, policy, business and the community to jointly create innovative solutions for development.

The conference concluded successfully, gathering many in-depth, scientific and practical contributions

Other photos:

Prof. Dr. Ngô Thắng Lợi - Senior Lecturer, National Economics University presents the paper "Developing Vietnam’s economy: Achievements of 40 years and orientations for the new era"

Dr. Nguyễn Sĩ Dũng - former Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Office speaks on "From renewing the development model to renewing the national governance model"

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Ngọc Sơn - Vice Rector of the School of Economics and Public Management, National Economics University contributes his views on a new growth model based on science and technology, innovation and digital transformation

Prof. Dr. Giang Thanh Long - Senior Lecturer, National Economics University speaks on 40 years of Doi Moi and the path towards 2045 from the perspective of social transformation

Labour Hero Trần Mạnh Báo - Chairman of the Board of Directors of ThaiBinh Seed Group shares a practitioner’s perspective on the lessons of 40 years of Doi Moi and solutions for the period ahead

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Trần Đình Thiên - former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics speaks on the bottlenecks facing the economy and the need to shift from manual labour to creative labour

Prof. Dr. Tạ Ngọc Tấn - former Member of the Party Central Committee, former President of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics presents the paper "The Party’s creative theoretical development throughout the Doi Moi process"

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phạm Minh Tuấn - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Communist Review, representing the chairing panel, delivers the closing remarks of the conference

Pillars: Research, Community Engagement

Project: UEH Connecting

News: Department of Communications and Partnership Development, Department of Global Development and Engagement, UEH Research Team

Photos: Nhan Dan Newspaper