Vietnam PM seeks Dutch support for building Hanoi tech hub

"We are setting up a center for innovation and entrepreneurship in our country, and we want the Netherlands to assist Vietnam in building a Brainport in Hanoi similar to that in Eindhoven," he said on December 11 during an official visit to the European country.

Brainport Eindhoven is a top technology region in the Netherlands, which has transformed from being agricultural to high-tech. He invited European enterprises to participate in the project.

Brainport Eindhoven was established in the 1990s amid an economic crisis in the Netherlands as a smart innovation center with high-tech systems and advanced solutions.

It has a supply network for 120 companies which cooperate with each other. To reduce costs for customers, it offers a comprehensive supply chain including design, engineering and production.

Chinh said Brainport in Hanoi should focus on promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, focusing on emerging scenarios such as digital transformation, combating climate change and circular economy.

It should address Vietnam's problems such as agricultural development, issues related to the Mekong Delta and hunger and poverty eradication, he said.

People would be the deciding factor in Brainport Hanoi’s success, and the Netherlands should train human resources for it, he said.

He hoped that after his visit the two sides would raise their relationship to a new, more inclusive and sustainable level, including between Brainport and the proposed hub in Hanoi, as the two countries celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations.

Chinh met with Martijn van Gruijthuisen, the Deputy Governor of North Brabant Province and several tech entrepreneurs.

He said the relationship between the two nations is growing well in fields like politics, diplomacy and education and training, especially a strategic partnership in response to climate change.

Hans Duisters, founder of high-tech equipment provider Sioux Technologies, said he was impressed by what Chinh said and he has been serving the interests of the people of Vietnam and of the world.

"It is a mindset that transcends national borders. I was also seeking to make the world a better place with breakthrough and progressive technologies."

Gruijthuijsen said Brabant is the home of Europe's smart solutions and seeks to find solutions to social problems facing the world today and in the future.

He said that the Netherlands is also feeling the consequences of climate change, and so the transition to a green and clean economy is urgent.

For this reason the Triple Helix cooperation model was formed, comprising enterprises, institutes/universities and the government, in which the latter is responsible for facilitating and promoting innovation-focused businesses, he said.

"We are always looking beyond our regional borders, to potential partners in Europe and beyond."

North Brabant Province, dubbed the ‘Factory of Smart Solutions,’ is Europe's leading science and technology center.

Eindhoven is a major innovation, economic, research, and higher education center and a technological hub of Europe.

Chinh arrived in the Netherlands from Luxembourg on December 10 for an official visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

He will also visit Belgium for a summit commemorating the 45th anniversary of ASEAN-E.U. relations in Brussels on December 14.