Vietnam, Singapore foster cooperation in facilitating innovation

The National Innovation Centre (NIC) under the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in conducting activities to enhance the innovation capacity in both countries.

The MoU was signed at a business forum held by the Singapore Business Association on July 7 under the witness of Vietnamese and Singaporean officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, MPI Minister Nguyen Chi Dung and Singaporean Second Minister of Trade and Industry Tan See Leng.

Addressing the signing ceremony, MPI Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said that cooperation between the NIC and NUS is a practical and specific effort of the two sides to share knowledge and support each other in innovative startups, helping Vietnam realise its vision to become an innovation-oriented economy.

It is also among major cooperation activities of the Vietnam-Singapore Working Group on Innovation, he said, expressing hope that it will make positive contributions to the innovative startup ecosystem in Vietnam.

Under the MoU, NUS and NIC will set up working groups to strengthen collaboration in innovation and connectivity of the startup ecosystems in the two countries in the next three years.

The NUS will sponsor individuals winning the Vietnam Innovation Challenge contest to join its annual Startup Summer Programme, while granting scholarships to Vietnamese talents to take post-graduate courses on innovative startups.

NUS will share professional knowledge on NIC platforms, while NUS students and startups can access relevant initiatives and platforms, including incubation programmes organised by the NIC.

The two sides will also hold joint activities in Vietnam to promote the application of advanced technology solutions provided by Southeast Asian startups.

NIC will call for support from different sides for the expansion of the startup ecosystem for startups in the Southeast Asian region.

The two sides will seek cooperation chances and share knowledge to promote the development and application of technology, focusing on smart city and medical technology.

At the same time, the two sides will exploit new partnerships to develop innovative and startup centres in Vietnam, including the NUS's BLOCK71 global startup network that entered Vietnam in 2021 with the support of Becamex IDC Corporation.

Vu Quoc Huy, NIC Director said that the partnership between the NIC and NUS will facilitate knowledge exchange and access to resources, thus opening up cooperation opportunities, contributing to the growth of the startup ecosystem in Vietnam and strengthening the country's position as a regional innovation hub./.

VNA