NIC getting off ground with innovative events

NIC getting off ground with innovative events

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong told VIR that in line with the government boosting its drive towards Industry 4.0, his ministry (MPI) will officially begin construction of the National Innovation Centre (NIC) by the end of the year.

“The groundbreaking ceremony of the NIC headquarters in Hanoi’s Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park will take place on December 19-20, along with numerous events to promote innovation activities,” Dong confirmed.

The NIC is being created as the core entity to boost international cooperation related to innovation, and is illustrating the efforts of the government to lure attention and investment into science and technology creation by mobilising the resources of domestic and overseas companies and corporations.

In addition to the NIC, the MPI will launch an event called “Vietnam Innovation Day” along with other landmark events to spur on the nation’s Industry 4.0 drive, including meetings with overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and an international exhibition on high technologies.

“The proposed Vietnam Innovation Day could be annual event to promote and introduce achievements of Vietnam’s innovative ecosystem, as well as create opportunities to bridge investors with startups and innovators with unique ideas. In the era to come, Vietnam will be the destination for innovation in the region,” Dong said.

The proposed Innovation Day would include the presentation displays to show off the most cutting-edge technology applications, an innovation expo of concepts and products, and festivals for students in the science, technology, engineering, and maths subjects.

Meanwhile, the Vietnam Innovation Network (VIN) has been behind the crafting of ideas for the NIC. Since 2018 it has gathered more than 100 overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and contacted 300 others across 14 countries to collect their comments and suggestions for policies of the NIC and in building the centre in general. “They connect with each other very frequently and have mobilised some venture funds for investing into Vietnam,” Deputy Minister Dong added.

In fact, the MPI has already established VIN offices in the United States, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and Germany, and expects to contact about 1,000 overseas Vietnamese intellectuals in total to frequently provide advice in all sectors related policymaking and socioeconomic development in the country.

Elsewhere, on November 25 the Vietnam Venture Summit 2020 (VVS) with the theme “Going Digital” is taking place at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi. The summit will see the attendance of about 800-1,000 delegates, leaders of several ministries and branches, nearly 50 international and domestic speakers, leaders of technology groups, investors, and startups from both home and abroad, as well as representatives of institutions and universities from across the country.

Leaders of well-known corporations and representatives of major investment funds such as Golden Gate Ventures, Softbank Venture, Sequoia, and ADB Venture are also set to be present at the event.

In the summit’s framework, there will be activities connecting innovative businesses such as startup-pitching and business-matching, where potential startups will be connected with more than 100 investment funds, and will attend the programme and introduce their ideas on the day of the event. “The VVS last year mobilised $425 million in commitment of investment funds, around half of which has already been poured into innovation projects despite the pandemic’s impacts. The amount of commitment this year is expected to be much higher,” asserted Deputy Minister Dong.