HCMUT representing Vietnam hosted the “5th AUN University Innovation and Enterprise” conference organized by the ASEAN University Network-University Innovation and Enterprise (AUN-UIE) on November 26th, 2024.
The AUN-UIE conference is held annually to create opportunities for representatives of educational institutions in Southeast Asia to discuss and agree on future action plans for research and innovation. Last year, the network organized the 4th AUN-University Innovation Entrepreneurship: Incubating ASEAN’s Most Promising Talents” in Singapore. This year, the conference focused on mentoring and financing for entrepreneurship and innovation activities, internationalization, and discussing the supporting role of AUN-UIE in entrepreneurship and innovation for universities in Vietnam.
In the morning session, HCMUT Vice President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Tran Vu warmly welcomed the delegations from the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, and lecturers representing higher education institutions in Vietnam to visit HCMUT and contribute initiatives towards promoting entrepreneurship and innovation activities.
HCMUT recognized the significance of entrepreneurship and innovation early on, establishing the Technology Business Incubation Center in 2010 and launching various R&D projects, conferences, workshops, and exhibitions to foster these activities. Among its numerous initiatives, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Tran Vu emphasized the importance of the Bach Khoa Innovation (BKI) competition. He expressed hopes for collaboration with the University’s partners within the AUN-UIE network as part of the competition’s planned internationalization strategy.
How to increase the internationalization of the BKI in the future is one of the important agendas discussed by the delegates during the afternoon session. Delegates were all from educational institutions, and they made great efforts to incubate and develop the startup ecosystem in universities, thus bringing insightful analyses and proposals for the orientation of BKI. HCMUT expects that, according to the common goal of the AUN-UIE network, ASEAN universities will have plans to participate, support, and spread to increase the scale and scope of BKI in the region.
In addition, the delegates spent plenty of time sharing and discussing common challenges in mentoring, financing, knowledge transfer, promoting innovation and entrepreneurship culture, and the need for effective incubation of students’ and trainees’ entrepreneurship and innovation projects.
Founded in 2018 by Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, the AUN-UIE Network seeks to enhance the innovation capacity of educational institutions across the ASEAN region. It strives to create a shared platform that fosters research excellence, academic collaboration, and stronger connections with government agencies and businesses.
Event’s photos:
Source: www.hcmut.edu.vn
