This flagship event is part of the celebration of the 45th anniversary of Sweden-Vietnam diplomatic relations taking place throughout 2014.“Innovation and economic growth are attached to one another. Vietnam aims to increase its innovative capacity and climb the global value chain while Sweden is currently recognized as one of the world's most innovative countries. Swedish companies, universities, public agencies and other organizations are eager to join Vietnam's journey and contribute to its efforts to increase its innovative capacity – for the benefit of Vietnam and its people”, noted Ms. Camilla Mellander, Ambassador of Sweden to Vietnam while stressing that two nations have enjoyed unique and special bilateral relationships during the past 45 years.
“From the temperature scale by Celcius in 1741 to Skype in 2003, throughout its history, Sweden has long been considered a nation that embeds innovations. Our curiosity, creativity, and desire for change have made us innovators. We lead the world in innovations, in a variety of fields. Through Innovative Sweden, we want to share these experiences with Vietnam to cultivate a culture of creativity here and to facilitate a mutual exchange of solutions and innovations for the future,” said Ms. Annika Rembe, Director-General of the Swedish Institute.
The Innovative Sweden Exhibition showcases cutting-edge innovations within ICT, Life Science, Clean Technology and Gaming, which have been developed by twenty young start-up companies. Initiated by the Swedish Institute, and carried out in close cooperation with Swedish embassies and partners, the international tour of the exhibition started at Stanford University, SiliconValley in 2011. So far the exhibition has been shown in USA, Canada, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, Korea and Indonesia before its presentation in Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam during three weeks in November, 2014.
“The spirit of this exhibition has inspired me to think of the role of higher education institutions in the innovation system in Vietnam during the 21st century. The university serves as the catalyst and incubator of innovation that benefits firms and households, which is desirable but still not sufficient. More importantly, the university must create affordable and social innovations to tackle local and global problems such as poverty, inequality, and pollution. The university must also facilitate the adoption of existing inventions in disadvantaged communities to improve their quality of life. I look forward to seeing cooperation between Swedish companies and Vietnamese universities to make this world a better place for everyone”, shared Dr. Bui Tran Phuong, President of Hoa Sen University.
The exhibition gives a glimpse of innovations from Sweden today from start-up companies that may become the leading Swedish corporations of tomorrow. The exhibition is complemented by an extensive program of seminars, creative workshops and cultural events, tailored to the Vietnamese audience. These include business seminars on Sustainable Transport, Cleantech, Innovative Media, Disaster Relief, Education as well as a photo exhibition which takes a close look at Swedish innovations from Vietnamese lenses. The cultural activities consist of a Swedish film festival, a LunchBeat (disco lunch), a Swedish gaming competition with Battle Field and Candy Crush Saga and the 2014 European Music Festival where Swedish singer Kristin Amparo will be staging.
The exhibition is open to the public daily from 08:00 to 17:00 including weekends. If you are researchers or inventors, government representatives, business corporations, or simply having interests or otherwise engaged in innovations, environmental technology, ICT or gaming, please come to Hoa Sen University and experience the wonders of innovation.
