Participants at the Vietnam Global Innovation Connect Singapore 2025. —VNA/VNS Photo

SINGAPORE — The Vietnam Global Innovation Connect Singapore 2025 kicked off in Singapore on Thursday, bringing together some 100 Vietnamese experts and entrepreneurs from around the world to advance the nation’s technology development.

The three-day forum, jointly held by the Association of Vietnamese Scientists and Experts (AVSE Global) and the Việt Nam Community Liaison Committee in Singapore (VNAS), centres on the theme “Connect – Converge – Create: Empowering the Future with Technology”. Discussions focus on three strategic issues of semiconductors, AI, and financial technology.

Prof. Nguyễn Đức Khương, AVSE Chairman, described the forum as an important event, helping connect Vietnamese intellectual networks globally to find ways to make breakthroughs in emerging technology sectors.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Trần Phước Anh emphasised the forum's timing, as bilateral relations between Việt Nam and Singapore are set to reach a new high, noting innovation would create the foundation for Vietnam's socio-economic development in the new era as outlined by Party General Secretary Tô Lâm.

There are some 6 million overseas Vietnamese, a huge resource for national development, he underscored.

Professor Vũ Minh Khương from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy shared insights into Singapore's remarkable transformation from a "third world" to a "first world" nation, suggesting valuable lessons for Việt Nam's development path. He highlighted Singapore is interested in Việt Nam's development ambitions and anticipates Party chief Tô Lâm's upcoming visit to the country.

The forum also features discussions on emerging technologies, with An Bình Bank General Director Phạm Duy Hiếu, also Chairman of the Startup Vietnam Foundation (SVF), stressing the importance of creating an environment where creative seeds can germinate, and Mai Trọng Thi, a Vietnamese expert in Singapore, emphasising the need to gather intellectuals for the nation’s technology development.

Several side activities at the Singapore Management University and networking sessions with the Vietnamese Student Association in Singapore are scheduled. Individuals who have made significant contributions to innovation and technology globally and in Việt Nam will be also honoured.

AVSE Global, established in 2011 and headquartered in Paris, pioneers strategic consulting and executive training with members across 20 countries and a network of over 10,000 global experts. — VNS