Vietnam and Belgium cooperate to boost innovation
A delegation of ministries, innovation centers, research institutes, and universities, led by the Minister of Planning and Investment, Nguyen Chi Dung, visited Belgium from February 18 to 21.
Vietnam encourages Hub.Brussels, the Brussels Business Support Agency, to open a representative office at NIC Hoa Lac in Hanoi to jointly develop the ecosystem of innovative startups in Vietnam.
| NIC, Hub.Brussels, and VINEU signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in innovation and entrepreneurship. Photos: VNA |
Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung made the proposal at meetings with Belgian partners, including Hub.Brussels, Interuniversity Microelectronics Center (IMEC) and John Cockerill Group on February 20 in Brussels.
In 2023, the Vietnam National Innovation Center (NIC) and the Vietnam Innovation Network in Europe (VINEU) will cooperate with Hub.Brussels to build an exchange program for startups, which brings together a number of Vietnamese businesses to access technology and markets in Belgium and Europe.
Dung asked Hub.Brussels to support the NIC in establishing and operating the startup and innovation center and to advise on connecting with investment funds.
Deputy CEO of Hub.Brussels Annelore Isaac expressed her confidence in the cooperation with the Vietnamese side and expected cooperation in health and construction between the two parties.
Hub.Brussels stands ready to support selected Vietnamese startups who will be sent to Belgium to study and wishes to take some Belgian startups to Vietnam for the same purpose, she added.
During the visit, NIC, Hub.Brussels, and VINEU signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in innovation and entrepreneurship.
At the meeting, the Minister also proposed that IMEC, NIC, and Vietnamese training institutions cooperate in training semiconductor industry students and engineers, supporting them to study and research at IMEC universities and research facilities.
In addition, the Minister asked IMEC to develop capacity enhancement programs for Vietnamese enterprises operating in the semiconductor industry, including VNPT, Viettel, CMC, and FPT, as well as research facilities on microelectronics, microchips and semiconductors at the NIC Hoa Lac facility.
| IMEC and NIC signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in building capacity of Vietnam's semiconductor industry. |
On this occasion, a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in capacity development of the Vietnamese semiconductor industry was also signed between IMEC and NIC, under which IMEC will study the construction of a semiconductor research and development (R&D) center in Vietnam.
At the meeting with leaders of the John Cockerill Group, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung emphasized that Vietnam is keen on investing in hydrogen research and wants to cooperate comprehensively with John Cockerill in the energy field.
The Minister highly appreciated John Cockerill's investment intention and wished the group to become a strategic partner of Vietnam by launching cooperation programs and R&D projects in Vietnam.
John Cockerill's representative expressed his desire to make a comprehensive and strategic investment in Vietnam, turning the country into a hub to serve the Southeast and East Asian markets. The Belgian group wants to focus on solutions related to energy conversion, including biomass energy (biomass), hydrogen, and low-carbon solutions in energy.
VINEU told Minister Dung that they will this year organize in Berlin the "Seminar to promote bilateral cooperation on energy transition to net-zero emissions by 2050"; the Vietnam Innovation Festival in Europe, as well as promote cooperation with Hub.Brussels and connect semiconductor experts and scientists to advise Vietnam in this field.
