SINGAPORE (Nov 25): BLOCK71, the cornerstone of Singapore’s technology start-up community, is expanding to Vietnam.
The entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore (NUS), NUS Enterprise, on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with industrial infrastructure developer Becamex IDC Corporation (Becamex) to establish BLOCK71 in Vietnam.
In a joint press release, Becamex and NUS say they aim to cultivate a vibrant innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in country, which is already home to the third most active start-up ecosystem in Asean, behind Singapore and Indonesia
Over the last two years, Vietnam has reported a six-fold increase in invested capital in technology deals.
Vietnam will be the eighth BLOCK71 location, in addition to Singapore, San Francisco in the United States, Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta in Indonesia, and two locations in Suzhou, China.
In Vietnam, NUS Enterprise and Becamex will work closely to cultivate a vibrant and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem and build bridges for business development in Vietnam and beyond.
Among other things, BLOCK71 will provide support to entrepreneurs by providing access to global networks, incubation support, opportunities to pilot and test business ideas and technologies, as well as to participate in entrepreneurial initiatives such as business competitions, validation programmes, talks and conferences, and other start-up related events.
“This new BLOCK71 in Vietnam will enable entrepreneurs and innovators to access new markets, provide NUS students with interesting internship placements, and provide information and access to technology innovation and entrepreneurship programmes and courses available in Singapore such as full-time Master of Science programmes and the NUS Technology Access Programme,” says Professor Freddy Boey, NUS Deputy President (Innovation & Enterprise).
“This is an essential part of our larger strategy to facilitate the transition of Vietnam’s economy from labour-intensive to technology and knowledge activities,” says Mr Nguyen Van Hung, Chairman of Becamex. “We also welcome global start-ups who aspire to venture into Vietnam’s thriving market and gain access to local tech talents.”
