(VOVWORLD) - "Inno Vietnam - Japan Fast Track Pitch 2023", a new platform for start-ups and companies from ASEAN, Japan, and around the world to co-create open innovation, was launched in Hanoi on Tuesday.
 Vo Xuan Hoai, NIC Deputy Director (Photo credit: NIC) |
Jointly held by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), and the Vietnam National Innovation Center (NIC), the program is part of the “ASEAN-Japan Co-Creation Fast Track Initiative” to accelerate global open innovation of Japanese companies and startups.
Vo Xuan Hoai, NIC Deputy Director, said that the program is to connect innovation activities of Vietnam and Japan to promote the innovation capacity of Vietnamese enterprises and those in ASEAN to solve the difficulties faced by large tech firms of both countries.
“This is a very special program. First it celebrates the 50th anniversary of cooperation between Vietnam and Japan, as well as between Japan and ASEAN. Second, it will make a big difference based on applying the achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and of open innovation. For this program, we’ve invited 6 leading enterprises from Japan and Vietnam to offer their challenges, most of which focus on innovation-based sustainable development,” said Hoai.
At the program, the first of its kind in Vietnam, 6 leading companies - VinGroup, MoMo, FPT, Tokyu group, Money Forward, and Da Nang Fujikin - provided challenges based on the need to look for solutions from startups.
 Le Viet Thanh, an FPT representative, presents the company’s issues and challenges for startups. (Photo credit: NIC)
|
Le Viet Thanh, Deputy Director of Data Platform & Analytics Center of FPT Information System, said the eternal challenges faced by Vietnamese enterprises are first, how to survive in the market, and second, how to rise to the top.
According to Thanh, the difference between the current difficulty and the eternal difficulty is that the intensity and level of the current competition is increasingly more intense, because all both in Vietnam and around the world are in a difficult economic period.
“Therefore, most businesses when participating in this program aim to look for new ‘weapons’ or tools relating to technology, AI, and most of the challenges presented at the launch today focus on how to connect technology with businesses, how to make technologies useful to daily life and to business,” Thanh noted.
The model was successfully deployed in Singapore in April and in Bangkok earlier this month, attracting more than 700 investors, startups, large corporations, and supporting organizations. The third event is scheduled to be held in Jakarta on September 1.
In Vietnam, the "Inno Vietnam - Japan Fast Track Pitch 2023" is expected to become an annual event.