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.

A man working on a robot at the Vietnam - Japan Center for Training and Technology Transfer in Ho Chi Minh City.

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.

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Source: VnExpress