The press conference for Startup Hunt 2019, one of the most expected events for the local startup community this year, took place in Hanoi on last Friday, with Paradise Bay Resort Company Limited (ALMA) acting as the official sponsor and co-organiser.
The press conference was held by the Supporting Center for Youth’s Startup (SYS), in tandem with ALMA and the Israeli Embassy in Vietnam.
Startup Hunt 2019 is a nationwide contest open for all young members working and living in Vietnam. The event takes place to implement the Youth Startup Support Programme 2019-2022 and follow up the “I love my country” movement, also welcoming the 8th Congress of the Vietnam Youth Federation for the term 2019-2024.
This year, Startup Hunt – Creative Idea Contest 2019 focuses on tourism. The purpose of the contest is to create an opportunity for Vietnamese youth to implement their innovative ideas and knowledge on Vietnam’s tourism, gathering social awareness of the youth startup movement and encouraging Vietnamese youth to embrace startup and to contribute to the country’s economy.
The contest will feature three major rounds. In the first round, which lasts for one month from July 5 to August 5, 2019, the jury will examine all the submissions from around the country and select the 20 best contestants to participate in the semi-finals.
For the semi-finals, running from August 7 to 21, the mentors will offer a two-week online consultancy to the contestants. After these two weeks, the contestants will submit a video about their project to the organiser who will pick five contestants for the finals.
Before the finals in Hanoi on August 28, the five contestants will receive one-on-one consultation to prepare a presentation for the jury, which will select the top three.
At last week’s press conference about the event, Nguyen Linh Chi, vice president of ALMA, said, “Recently, there have been new vacation concepts emerging in the market and this is a perfect time for young people to contribute innovative ideas to further accelerate the development of tourism in Vietnam.”
“As a member of the Organising Board of this competition, we expect to find those who have innovative ideas in the field of tourism, so that we can support and help them to bring their ideas into reality,” she added.
The three winners will have a chance to visit Israel to gain hands-on knowledge about the startup industry with a cash prize of up to VND200 million ($8,700). The trip to Israel will be sponsored by ALMA.
Paradise Bay Resort Limited Company (ALMA) has been pioneering the vacation ownership concept for families in Vietnam through the introduction of ALMA Resort in Cam Lam in the south-central coastal province of Khanh Hoa which has carved out a spot among the top resorts for family vacation in Asia.
ALMA resort offers nearly 600 units of ocean-view apartments and villas with 40 world-class amenities suitable for all family members.
Besides its reputation in tourism, ALMA has long been recognised for its efforts in building a sustainable startup community in Vietnam.
Before co-hosting Startup Hunt 2019, ALMA did a number of activities to facilitate the development of young startups and increase the quality of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the country.
In 2017, ALMA sponsored the visit of renowned Israeli expert Illy Edry to Vietnam in an attempt to assist the Hanoi People’s Committee with the strategy for developing startup community in Vietnam and national incubation.
Last year, ALMA co-ordinated with Vietnam Youth Federation to hold a startup event for Vietnamese students, in which ALMA awarded full scholarships with the value reaching VND130 million ($5,650) for students who are passionate about startups to participate in a three-week course named “Smart Cities” in Israel.
These activities indicate the willingness and dedication of the Israeli business in contributing to the development of not only the economy but also the society and community in Vietnam.
Credit: vir.com.vn