On May 12, 2017, Dr. Kum Dongwha – Former President of Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) was recommended by the Korean Government to be the first President of VKIST in an attempt to support Vietnam with establishing an advanced applied research institute benchmarking the KIST model. On December 31, 2021, Dr. Kum Dongwha officially ended his tenure in Vietnam after nearly 5 years of working as the VKIST President.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam presented a souvenir to Dr. Kum Dongwha
At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam congratulated Dr. Kum on the successful completion of his tenure as the first President of VKIST. Besides, Deputy Prime Minister highly appreciated his efforts during the process of establishing and developing VKIST, thereby contributing to promoting the cooperation relations in the field of science and technology between Vietnam and Korea.
Dr. Kum Dongwha reported to the Deputy Prime Minister some outstanding achievements that VKIST has accomplished as well as the progress of VKIST Project*. Currently, VKIST is being developed following the concept of contract research institute with the leverage of financial autonomy mechanism. VKIST has initially formed a research-friendly environment for R&D activities and R&D management system following global standards.
After nearly 5 years since its formation, VKIST has formed several prioritized research laboratories with a well-established legal framework and internal regulation system. The human resource of VKIST is now filled with experienced senior researchers and high-quality mid-tier and junior researchers, who possess a wide breadth of experience in abroad. VKIST has been actively implementing numerous types of projects ranging from national-level, MOST-level, VKIST-level to joint research projects collaborating with KIST. In addition, VKIST has carried out several projects on policy study and market survey which serves as the basis for defining the development strategy of VKIST in the future. Dr. Kum also listed some difficulties during the operation process of VKIST, such as: how to attract and retain the talent from the abroad and non-public sector; how to build and develop modern laboratories following global standards; how to resolve the gap between Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the VKIST Project.
Based on the report, the Deputy Prime Minister praised VKIST for its achievements after nearly 5 years of establishment. He emphasized that VKIST could hardly attain these accomplishments without the leadership of Dr. Kum Dongwha as well as his effort to bridge the scientist network of two countries. The Deputy Prime Minister expressed his great expectation for the success of VKIST model, which could become an example for other research institutes to benchmark, thence contribute to the positive changes in the science and technology sphere of Vietnam.
Overview of the meeting
In terms of difficulties that VKIST struggled with, the Deputy Prime Minister would discuss directly with MOST Leaders to find out the solutions. He also determined to develop a better mechanism that could fully supports the operation of the VKIST Model as well as promote the implementation of Phase 2 of the VKIST Project at the soonest time. The Deputy Prime Minister hoped that Dr. Kum Dongwha would continue supporting and consulting VKIST during its development as well as promoting the cooperation between VKIST and KIST in particular and between two nations in general in science and technology sphere.
Responding to the Deputy Prime Minister's sharing, Dr. Kum Dongwha expressed his gradtitude for the consideration and support of not only MOST but also the Vietnamese Government and other Ministries during the past period. Dr. Kum promised he would do his best to support VKIST even when he returns to Korea, especially in connecting and carrying out joint research activities with Korean partners. At the same time, he would continue to share his experience and knowledge with VKIST members so that VKIST would be operated and developed following the right direction as the expectation of both Governments.
*VKIST Project: Project on cooperating to establish Vietnam – Korea Institute of Science and Technology in Vietnam funded by the non-refundable ODA from the Korean Government.
