Attending the ceremony were leaders of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province - Mrs. Nguyen Thi Yen - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Mr. Dang Minh Thong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee (PPC) and representatives from the Ministry of Science and Technology - Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Ba Bong - Member of the National Council for Science and Technology Policy, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Mr. Le Minh Khanh - Deputy Director of the National Office in Southern Region - Ministry of Science and Technology.

Mr. Mai Thanh Quang - Director of the Department of Science and Technology, representatives from other provincial Departments and agencies, the People’s Committees of cities and districts, institutes, universities, enterprises, science and technology organizations, and local news agencies in Ba Ria – Vung Tau (BR-VT) attended the event. In particular, the meeting saw the presence of scientists awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize and the State Prize in science and technology, awardees in“the 1st Science and Technology Idea Contest of ​​Ba Ria - Vung Tau province” along with representative leaders from their corresponding organizations, and all officers, employees and workers of the Department of Science and Technology.

On the opening speech, Mr. Mai Thanh Quang stated that BR-VT province has organized many S&T research and application activities which are closely linked with the targets and tasks of local socio-economic development. On behalf of the Department of Science and Technology, Mr. Quang expressed the sincere thanks to the support and guidance of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council and People's Committee as well as the close cooperation and collaboration among the provincial Departments and agencies, local People’s Committees and enterprises for S&T development. He also stressed that all officers, employees and workers of the S&T Department will continue to strive to successfully complete the assigned tasks and achieve higher performance.

Speaking at the meeting, Vice Chairman of the PPC – Mr. Dang Minh Thong, on behalf of the provincial leaders, praised achievements of S&T field as well as scientists and creative staff whose S&T studies and applications have made significantcontribution to the socio-economic development of Ba Ria – Vung Tau. In the coming time, in order to promote the role of human resources in S&T, the PPC will continue to direct the functional agencies to organize a wide variety of activities including to develop and implement the Project on effectively assigning the provincial intellectuals; to create mechanism, environment and motivation for intellectuals in Ba Ria - Vung Tau and other provinces to actively contribute to the provincial S&T development; to organize regular meetings between leaders of provincial authorities and scientists to exchange information and discuss issues related to closely linking S&T with local socio-economic development; to continue to give the S&T Awards for individuals whose researches have been applied effectively. Every year, the province will honor organizations and individuals having S&T ideas and innovations which are highly applicable or effectively applied in practice. He also affirmed that the provincial leaders always give support and create favorable conditions for the development of the science and technology field in Ba Ria – Vung Tau. Mr. Thong believes and hopes that this meeting will create positive momentum for S&T activities in Ba Ria – Vung Tau.

On this occasion, the PPC honored the 3 works which were awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize and 01 work which was awarded the State Prize in Science and Technology. The three works awarding Ho Chi Minh Prize includes: (1) “Research on detailed designing and applying technology to manufacture, assemble and launch the 90m water-depth jack-up drilling rig in the condition of Vietnam” by group of authors from PetroVietnam Marine Shipyard JSC - PV Shipyard; (2) “Research, development, and improvement the technology of collecting, processing, transporting crude oil in the specific conditions of Vietsovpetro oil fields and the connected oil fields in the continental shelf of Vietnam” by group of authors from the Vietsovpetro; (3) “Building a comprehensive system of urban and rural infrastructure for environmental protection, disaster prevention, and climate change adaptation” by Hero of Labor Hoang Duc Thao, General Director cum Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ba Ria – Vung Tau Urban Sewerage and Development One Member Limited Company (BUSADCO). The project winning the State Prize in Science and Technology is “Research on the best project for manufacturing, launching and installing a super platform in more than 100 m water-depth in the condition of Vietnam”by group of authors from the Vietsovpetro.

These are noble awards recognized by the Party and State to honor scientists and authors of excellent and valuable scientific and technological works which makinggreat and long-term impact in people’s live, effectively and practically contributing to socio-economic, defense and security as well as S&T development of the country.In addition, the PPC delivered the awarded Certificates of “the 1st Science and Technology Idea Contest of ​​Ba Ria - Vung Tau province” to 14 outstandingscientific and technological works and groups of works in the province.

At the closing speech, Mr. Mai Thanh Quang - Director of the Department of Science and Technology officially launched “the 2nd Science and Technology Idea Contest of ​​Ba Ria - Vung Tau province”in five areas including environmental protection, traffic safety, food safety, tourism development and administrative reformation. Application period is from January 1st to August 31st 2017. Application form and all information about the contest are posted on the website of the Department of Science and Technology of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, at http://dost.baria-vungtau.gov.vn.