The Ministry of Science and Technology is initiating a pilot program to provide interest rate subsidies for companies investing in innovation and digital transformation. This strategic policy is designed to ease the capital burden on business actors while acting as a catalyst to accelerate technology adoption to increase labor productivity and industrial competitiveness in both domestic and global markets.
Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan emphasized that the state's role in this ecosystem is as a facilitator creating a conducive mechanism for the private sector. Through the National Technology Support Fund (NATIF), the government provides subsidies of up to 50% of the loan interest rate or a maximum of 6% per year for a period of five years. This scheme is intended not only for science and technology-based companies, but also for general business sectors that aspire to integrate new technologies into their operations.
NATIF Director Bui Quang Minh explained that this policy is implemented while maintaining market principles. Banks retain full authority over risk assessment and credit decisions, while the state acts to provide incentives to trigger the mobilization of social capital. This move is expected to create an effective leverage effect in the use of the state budget to finance a more efficient digital transformation.
In the initial stage, the program will be piloted on 20 selected companies to validate the effectiveness of coordination between funding agencies, banks, and the business sector. Priority criteria are given to projects involving strategic technology transfer, high technology, and innovations with high economic added value. This pilot phase is scheduled to run until the end of September 2026, which will serve as the evaluation basis to determine the scale of broader policy implementation.
