Promoting start-up creativity spirit in students

The competition was launched in Hanoi, on June 18 by the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training, Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), and the United Nations Population Fund – UNFPA, funded by the Government of Japan.

All students studying at any vocational education and training institutions in Vietnam will be eligible to enter the competition either as individual candidates or as part of a team of up to 5 members.

Since 2020, Start-up Kite has been a national Start-up Competition organized by MOLISA under the National Master Plan “Supporting Student entrepreneurship until 2025”.

The MOLISA Deputy Minister Le Tan Dung said at the launch ceremony: “Start-up KITE is a playground for students from technical and vocational education and training institutions. I call on the students for your devotion to your future career to explore solutions and applications of science and technology in solving social issues. I also encourage enterprises and investors across the country to continue supporting vocational education and training to achieve its goal of providing high quality human resources for national innovation and development.”

UNFPA, in partnership with MOLISA is organising the competition Start-up Kite 2021 as part of the UNFPA’s implementation of the project “Mitigating COVID-19 Impacts on Vulnerable Populations - Ensuring National Progress to Achieve SDGs in Vietnam”, which is financed by the Government of Japan. UNFPA Vietnam delivers the project in partnership with Government partners, the UN agencies, and other relevant stakeholders, for the period from April 2021 to March 2022.

Addressing the launch ceremony, Minister Okabe from the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam said: “To realize an ‘inclusive society’, especially for vulnerable people, the young generation in the digital era will play a major role. As the Vietnamese government has set out, digital transformation can be a driving force to change society, which includes the betterment of the lives of elderly people and people with disabilities. Therefore, I believe that this event gives an opportunity for both the young and elder generations to collaborate on a lot of aspects.”

The Start-up Kite 2021 is structured across three rounds and the final round will be in November 2021.