HCM City wants US universities’ support in startup promotion
Nguyen Thien Nhan, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party’s Committee, hopes for further cooperation with the US Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management in promoting innovation and start-up spirit in the Vietnamese economic hub.
Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan. (Photo: VNA)
Washington (VNA) - Nguyen Thien Nhan, Secretary of the Ho Chi MinhCity Party’s Committee, hopes for further cooperation with the US MassachusettsInstitute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management in promoting innovationand start-up spirit in the Vietnamese economic hub.
He had working session with leaders of the MIT Sloan School of Management inBoston on December 13 as part of the US visit by a HCM City delegation.
HCM City, as the largest economic hub in Vietnam, wants to collaborate with theUS’s prestigious academic research and training institutes to carry out itsimportant development plan in startup, smart urban area and economiccompetitiveness capacity improvement, Nhan noted.
On the occasion, the delegation visited MIT Sloan’s Media Lab where pioneertechnologies are created.
Attending a forum on challenges in urban development in 21st centuryfor HCM City at Harvard Kennedy School, Nhan shared the city’s smart urban areadevelopment plan with professors and experts from Harvard University, TrinityCollege and Fulbright Vietnam University.
He said that the plan aims at high and sustainable economic growth, goodservices in healthcare, education, and environment.
Professor David Dapice from the Harvard Kennedy School recommended that Ho ChiMinh City branch out high-added value services, believing that a smart city’seconomic growth is expected to rely on those services.
Experts at the event agreed that Ho Chi Minh City has huge potential to turninto a smart city; however, workforce and public response and engagement arebig challenges.
Meanwhile, Professor Stephen Goldsmith from Harvard Kennedy said a foundationfor digital services is the key to smart city construction.
Earlier, Nhan had meeting with David Mandelbrot, CEO of Indiegogo- one of thetwo largest crowdfunding platforms in the US. -VNA
More than 500 startup projects have been launched in Ho Chi Minh City in the first six months of this year, heard a recent conference of the municipal Party Committee.
Ho Chi Minh City will build an industrial zone for new businesses, including startups, and aid firms with business registration procedures, said Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan.
A forum connecting Vietnamese startups in the United States and Vietnam themed “Lessons from Silicon Valley: Vietnam’s path to startup success” was organised in San Francisco city on December 9.
Nguyen Thien Nhan, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party’s Committee, has called on US technological groups and companies to expand their investment and cooperation in the city.
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Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan. (Photo: VNA) 
