Start-up Club Working with the Dong Nai Department of Science and Technology to Coordinate Entrepreneurship Activities.

In order to implement the objectives of Project 844 and the Start-up Support Policy under Decree No. 29/2020/ND-CP, on the afternoon of 1 September 2021, Lac Hong University held a working session with the Dong Nai Department of Science and Technology.

Representing Lac Hong University were PhD Nguyen Vu Quynh – Vice Rector; PhD Nguyen Van Tan – Head of the Start-up Training Division; along with members of the Start-up Club. Representing the Dong Nai Department of Science and Technology were Mr Nguyen Ngoc Phuong – Head of the Task Force for Implementing Innovative Start-up Activities to Support the Innovative Start-up Ecosystem in Dong Nai Province; Mr Doan Hung Minh – Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Center; Mr Tran Tan Phong – Deputy Head of the Science Management Division; Mr Giang Vu Van – Deputy Chief of Office of the Department; Mr Dang Ba Manh – Head of the Consulting and Training Division; together with their associates.

During the discussion, representatives of the Department of Science and Technology stated that although policies supporting start-ups are already in place, the Department currently lacks a start-up space and specific beneficiaries to support, including support for communication, purchasing teaching materials, completing prototypes, and developing technological processes. In this regard, the University plays a very important role as the primary entity in forming future enterprises. The University needs to register its support needs and information supply requirements with the Department, such as funds, experts, shared working spaces, etc., to achieve the common goal of placing Dong Nai on the start-up map.

Currently, the University has many scientific and technological solutions and applications; however, there is a need for linkage with the Department to jointly communicate and bring application results into practice. In the near future, plans include developing science and technology information sources, such as experts and academic publications, citations, and establishing a virtual science and technology exchange platform, in which the Department will operate the virtual platform while the University will operate the physical platform to jointly provide information. Regarding training programmes, the Department expressed its desire to coordinate with the University to organize training courses, connect incubators among universities and between the Department and the University, focus on key fields, and incubate ideas into projects capable of becoming start-ups.

From the perspective of Lac Hong University, in recent years, with the objective of application-oriented training, the University has achieved certain results in entrepreneurship and scientific and technological applications. Currently, depending on different target groups, the University offers various training packages corresponding to specific programmes, such as entrepreneurship training programmes: SIYB of the ILO, CEFE of Germany, IPP of Finland, ACSE of the British Council, and MEP of the United States; implementation of co-working spaces; university-level start-up competitions; and business health check programmes for individuals prior to starting their businesses.

The working session concluded with the expectation of further meetings in the future, with coordination between the two parties to achieve the common objective of placing Dong Nai on the start-up map of Vietnam.