Vietnam ranked 43rd among 139 countries and economies in the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) 2026 Global Innovation Index (GII). The organisation said Vietnam uses the index as a practical tool for policymaking.
Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, head of a section in WIPO’s Economics and Statistics Division and a co-editor of the GII report, discussed the assessment in an interview with Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Switzerland.
This year’s report focuses on “Powering Entrepreneurs at the Frontier of Science: Turning Pilots into Pipelines”. Wunsch-Vincent said scientific breakthroughs need to become startups and technology commercialising companies. Countries need strong research systems, long-term financing and businesses with a strong focus on research and development.
About 70 per cent of WIPO member states, or nearly 100 countries, use the GII as a policy diagnostic tool, according to WIPO. Wunsch-Vincent said Vietnam received full marks on three criteria for using the index effectively.
The first criterion is detailed research. Vietnam works with WIPO to analyse its strengths, weaknesses and long-term trends. The second is pooling resources nationwide. Vietnam created a GII working group linking central and local authorities and set a target of raising research and development spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product.
The third criterion is regular monitoring of innovation at the local level. Vietnam tracks the performance of provinces and cities each year and has created its own Provincial Innovation Index, or PII.
Wunsch-Vincent said other countries are studying Vietnam’s approach to the GII and coordination between central and local authorities. He added that Vietnam’s PII had encouraged some WIPO members to adopt similar models.
WIPO will continue helping Vietnam use its intellectual property system, including patents, trademarks and industrial designs. The two sides also plan to speed up technology transfer from research institutes and universities to companies and expand financing backed by intellectual property such as patents.
Sources: Viet Nam News
