Minister chides public, calls “barefoot scientist’” achievements modest

While the public and the media have showered praise on “barefoot scientists”, or farmers who have made new machinery, the Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan has called their achievements “modest”, and chided the public and media for describing them as “inventions”.

Not all of these inventors are farmers; some are businesspeople. For example, a story about the first made-in-Vietnam combatant submarine appeared in local newspapers four months ago.
Phan Boi Tran, a composite material engineer, is the inventor of the Yet Kieu 1 mini submarine. It runs on an electric engine which can bring it to a maximum speed of 15 miles per hour.

Ninety percent of the submarine’s parts and accessories can be manufactured domestically. This was big news for Vietnamese, who believe that Vietnam “can only assemble machines, but cannot manufacture machines”.

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