With an overall score 49.01 out of 100, Vietnam fared badly in the against countries such as Singapore (2nd), Malaysia (26th) and Thailand (36th) in the annual Bloomberg Innovation Index.

The ranking measures the world’s 60 most innovative countries based on seven criteria: research and development intensity, productivity, patent activity, concentration of researchers and tertiary efficiency, hi-tech density, and value-added manufacturing.

Vietnam raked highest, 40th, in hi-tech density, 44th in both tertiary education efficiency and patent activity, 43rd in research and development intensity, and 55th in value-added manufacturing.

It did not fare well in concentration of researchers (56th) and productivity (59th) either.

Based on purchasing power parity at 2011 constant prices, Vietnam's labor productivity is at $4,792, lower than that of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, according to official statistics.

Vietnam has been focusing on developing hi-tech products in recent years as it seeks to have 500 manufacturers of hi-tech products and 200 agriculture companies using hi-tech applications by 2030.

South Korea returned to first place in this year's ranking, followed by Singapore and Switzerland.