Honoring innovative climate ideas of Vietnamese start-ups

Thứ Tư, 20/09/2017, 20:28
PSNews - The Vietnam Climate Innovation Center (VCIC) on September 20 honored leading Vietnamese start-up businesses taking innovative approaches to addressing climate-related challenges in local communities.

The awards ceremony acknowledged the efforts of the first seven enterprises in graduating from a year-long incubation period and 17 winners of the second Proof-of-Concept Competition (POC2).

“On behalf of the Ministry of Science and Technology, I would like to congratulate the winners of POC2 and highly appreciate the efforts and contributions of the POC1 businesses during the journey with VCIC to achieve their goals. I expect the POC1 graduate enterprises to continue to grow and POC2 winners to achieve even more success. These enterprises will have positive impacts on the economy, environment, and society,” said Pham Dai Duong, Vice Minister of Science and Technology.

“The winners and graduates honored today are best placed to find innovative solutions to climate challenges within communities and to play key roles in contributing to the local economy and creating jobs,” said Ousmane Dione, Country Director for the World Bank in Vietnam.

The Deputy Head of Mission, Australian Embassy in Vietnam and the British Ambassador to Viet Nam also underscored VCIC’s important work in championing climate-related innovation.

“The enterprises supported by VCIC are driving change in Vietnam” said Layton Pike, Deputy Head of Mission, Australian Embassy in Vietnam. “We are proudly assisting Vietnam to create a more capable and confident private sector and to pursue an aggressive innovation and learning agenda under our Aus4Innovation program.”

“Supporting and incentivising international actions to combat climate change is a priority area for the UK’s international climate finance. We hope that VCIC is a platform for innovative ideas, generating transformational impacts at scale through the transfer of affordable climate technologies, disseminating good practice, and opening up new market opportunities and commercial potential for businesses” said Giles Lever, British Ambassador to Vietnam.

Managed by the Ministry of Science and Technology, VCIC supports local entrepreneurs to develop innovative technologies and business models in a range of climate technology-related areas to support Vietnam’s economic development, job creation and industrial competitiveness. In winning the POC2, the 21 entrepreneurs from more than 300 entrants will receive incubation services and financial support from VCIC, while the 7 graduates from POC1, which have considerably strengthened their businesses as the results of VCIC’s support will now be best positioned to access new markets.  

Following the awards ceremony, VCIC will hold a training program from 21-23 September to increase knowledge and skills for both groups of enterprises, focusing on the business plan, market research, marketing and technology descriptions.

By An Nhien - Duy Tien