Co-operation deals on innovations and start-up programmes are signed by Đà Nẵng City's Industry and Trade Department and partners at the annual Đà Nẵng Startup and Innovation Festival (SURF) 2023. — VNS Photo Công Thành

ĐÀ NẴNG — The Đà Nẵng-Seoul Start-up Innovation Centre officially debuted in the central city’s Việt Nam Innovation Hub, promoting start-up projects of the city worldwide through training by the Korean Global Startup Immigration Centre and DCAMP – the largest start-up hub in Korea backed by financial institutions.

The introduction of the Đà Nẵng Start-up Innovation Centre, a collaboration signed between the city’s Department of Industry and Trade and the Việt Nam Innovation Network in Korea (VINK), will offer working spaces, partner links, support policies, and legal assistance for start-up entrepreneurs from Đà Nẵng.

Chairman of VINK, Nguyễn Quang Phước, stated that the network, which gathers Vietnamese experts and intellectuals living in Korea to promote co-operation between the two countries based on innovative exchanges from 2021, will aid start-up initiatives and projects in Đà Nẵng and Việt Nam by connecting them with investment funds and businesses in Korea.

It will assist local start-up projects in accessing programmes, policies, and partners in Korea, launching innovative initiatives.

Vice-chairman of the city’s people’s committee, Trần Chí Cường, said the annual Đà Nẵng Startup and Innovation Festival (SURF) is an opportunity for businesses and young individuals in the city to develop their initiatives and innovations, aiming to make Đà Nẵng a key innovation centre in Southeast Asia and a smart, liveable urban area in Asia from 2030-45.

The city had earlier begun supporting start-up projects for emerging and start-up ecosystems in the city, he noted at the opening ceremony of SURF 2023 on September 29.

A total fund of US$200,000 has been allocated to 27 innovative start-ups and 160 start-up models, of which 61 have been operational since 2020.

Đà Nẵng also showcased 10 potential start-up projects and five scientific and technological solutions at SURF 2023, connecting them with investment funds and investors for sustained co-operation.

Students from Đà Nẵng's Đông Á University introduce unbaked bricks and concrete made from low carbon and environment-friendly material including recycle plastic bottles and sea sand. — VNS Photo Công Thành

Acronics Solutions Company has developed a locally-made cybersecurity firewall, V-pro, over a five-year process, incorporating five solutions for faster and more efficient protection of servers.

A group of students from the construction faculty of Đà Nẵng’s Đông Á University have been developing low-carbon and environmentally-friendly solutions for construction.

They have produced concrete using sea sand sediment instead of the over-exploited river sand in central Việt Nam and have made unbaked bricks from low-value plastic bottles.

Dương Trí Hoàng, 22, stated that each unbaked brick produced helps reduce 900 grams of plastic (about 200 plastic bottles) released into the environment. This also results in a 30 per cent reduction in both cost and emissions compared to burnt bricks.

Đặng Văn Dương, a member of the research team, explained that the concrete will comprise 30 per cent of sea sand and 20 per cent of river sand, reducing the cost of a cubic metre of concrete by 50 per cent.

Dương mentioned that the group is finalising procedures for intellectual property rights for the concrete and brick products for official use.

A range of skills practice solutions in medicine and healthcare education, digital trade transactions, global fashion chain digital management platforms, and VR360 ecological systems were introduced at SURF 2023.

In recent years, the Sông Hàn Incubator introduced the first-ever tourism start-up programme, initiated by the deputy head of the Đà Nẵng Entrepreneurship Support Co (DNES), Lý Đình Quân.

Quân emphasised that the programme aims to connect businesses operating in travel, hospitality, transport, craft villages, and information technology, thereby creating a value chain, reducing travel costs, and enhancing the quality and competitiveness of tourism enterprises in Việt Nam.

At SURF 2023, the city’s industry and trade department signed a co-operation agreement with the Institute for Scientific Technology and Innovations, focusing on transforming Đà Nẵng into an innovation city as part of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network Project.

The department and the city’s Women’s Union also committed to promoting and supporting innovations and start-up projects among women.

Đà Nẵng is home to 19,000 businesses, of which 95 per cent are small and medium-sized enterprises. — VNS