A high-tech production line of Masan High-Tech Materials Corporation in Vietnam. Photo courtesy of the company/VNA

Masan High-Tech Materials (MHT), a subsidiary of Masan Group, was last week honoured in the Top 50 Innovative Enterprises Vietnam and Top 10 Innovative Enterprises Vietnam, at an event held by VIR in collaboration with Viet Research.

Director of Media, Community, and External Relations of MHT, Phan Chien Thang, said that it has developed innovative processes, breakthrough solutions, and eco-friendly products to meet unmet needs in the global market, earning 95 new patents worldwide and 50 that are still in the application stage.

In 2020, MHT completed the acquisition of H.C. Starck Group’s tungsten business. It works in high-tech tungsten refining and recycling technology in Germany, with over 100 years of experience. Two innovation centres in Germany and Vietnam were also established to inherit and promote the achievements, cutting-edge research, innovation, and technology platform of H.C. Starck, and bring these studies to Vietnam.

“Our technological achievements will help MHT reduce its dependence on raw materials extracted from mining activities. They will also enable the company to adopt a circular business model through urban mining, from production waste collection and scrap recycling to raw material reclamation and can then be repurposed for creating new materials and products,” Thang said.

Despite the difficulties in the domestic and international economy, MHT achieved revenues of $676 million in 2022, continuing to maintain its position as the largest manufacturer of mid-stream tungsten products outside of China.

Elsewhere, Vietcombank has promoted innovation for 60 years and pioneered in providing online payment services to customers and developing card services in Vietnam.

In recent years, activities of research and application of science, technology, and innovation have also been developed by Vietcombank with priorities on financial resources. Particularly, a digital transformation programme with a focus on reaching the top in terms of digital transformation maturity in the region by 2025 has also been drastically implemented.

The lender will implement three groups of actions to promote sustainable and breakthrough innovation, shared Le Hoang Tung, chief accountant of Vietcombank.

“They focus on operating an innovation department to support business units in developing new products, improving innovation execution skills, and continuing to push initiatives across the bank,” Tung said. “Innovation is not only about technology, but also about people and culture. Vietcombank is changing its culture and the way it works.”

By 2022, Vietcombank’s network boasted 650 branches and transaction offices in five countries, with a profit scale of about $2.5 billion.

Meanwhile, the largest enterprise in the dairy processing industry in Vietnam, Vinamilk, has huge potential in the global dairy industry, according to Brand Finance’s Food & Beverage 2022 report. Currently, this enterprise is operating 16 factories and 14 farms both at home and abroad.

The results of a quick survey of businesses Viet Research honours lists showed that around 85 per cent of businesses consider innovation an important key to growth in the coming time, focusing on innovation and improvement of products, services, and processes. Some 70 per cent of businesses expect to increase their budget for innovation activities for at least the next two years.

Nguyen Van Truc - Director, Innovation Research Project, Viet Research Although innovation is an important factor for development, there are still some barriers affecting this process. Businesses often face a number of barriers in innovation process, although it is an important factor in such growth. Barriers include a lack of resources. Businesses often find it difficult to invest resources and finance for research and development of new products or innovative breakthroughs due to limitations in accessing capital and demonstrating the feasibility of the project. However, not all businesses want to innovate. Some businesses may be comfortable with the current way of working and do not want to change. Some businesses may not have the staff with the required skills and knowledge to create new or innovative products or services. Innovation requires not only creativity and competence, but also perseverance and experimentation. Businesses may have difficulty implementing new ideas or innovative breakthroughs due to opposition or pressure from employees or customers. Some enterprises may also encounter difficulties with legal or cultural regulations in the process of innovation implementation. To overcome these barriers, businesses need to find ways to create right environment, invest in capacity, motivate employees, and address legal and cultural issues.