Sustainable Entrepreneurship For Economic Development (SEED) Project

4 October, 2022

From July 19th, 2022 to July 29th, 2022, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) was pleased to welcome a delegation of lecturers and students from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) to exchange and implement the sustainable start-up project for economic development (Sustainable Entrepreneurship for Economic Development – SEED) with UEH students. The project is within the framework of the cooperation between UEH and FHNW with the aim of enhancing student understanding and exchange as well as providing opportunities for learning and new experiences.

Following the success of the SEED 2019 project held in Sadec and the SEED 2021 conducted online during the Covid-19 pandemic, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland co-organized the Sustainable Entrepreneurship for Economic Development (SEED) project. With the goal of SEED 2022, which is to promote projects to help economic recovery after the pandemic for craft villages, eco-tourism areas, and local businesses in the South of Vietnam, a delegation of experts and students had a practical working trip to Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City and Trang Bang Town, Tay Ninh Province.

Here, the delegation of lecturers and students can visit, observe, interview, and learn about economic development in general, especially the development of agriculture, eco-tourism, and traditional professions in this local. The students listened and asked questions to the householders, business owners, and local officials, and were answered by local leaders on issues listed as the current situation and difficulties of the industries, policies to support farmers in the district, development directions for brands or traditional industries in the future, etc. From sharing as well as answering questions, students have a more realistic view of the development of the agricultural and rural economy in the locality, helping students understand the meaning and role of determining development strategies, applying high technology to improve productivity and product quality, exploiting cultural values of craft villages to develop traditional craft village tourism products and so on.

The delegation of lecturers and students observed the situation of agricultural development, eco-tourism, and traditional professions in the area.

To prepare for the journey, FHNW students and UEH students together learn, and come up with ideas and business models as well as the start-up environment in Vietnam under the guidance of UEH lecturers and lecturers from FHNW, University Malaysia Kelantan, De La Salle University – Philippines. In addition, FHNW lecturers and students had the opportunity to visit the city, introduce food, and have interesting experiences about Vietnamese traditional culture listed as: making “to he”, folding coconut leaves and writing calligraphy, and outdoor activities such as going through “cau khi”, catching fish, making rice paper, etc. At the end of the field trip, the groups of students presented ideas and proposed business models with suggestions and evaluations from the participants. Professors and experts from UEH, Banking University Ho Chi Minh City and University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland.

Student groups presenting proposed business ideas and models

In more than 10 days, the SEED 2022 project officially ended; in addition to the knowledge about social entrepreneurship, the students gained many personal values and emotions in their luggage. The cohesion and teamwork together allow discussing academic issues and social issues of each country to understand more about the other country. From here, each of them fosters more realistic perspectives on the global citizen model.

The students receiving certificates from the project

* Information related to the project:

Sustainable Entrepreneurship for Economic Development (SEED) is a multicultural program that applies social entrepreneurship to the development of projects towards sustainable economic development. The SEED project provides opportunities for students from many countries to exchange, study and have the opportunity to develop and implement projects, research programs, and teaching based on real-life contexts in collaboration with participating organizations in order to produce socially responsible and internationally capable students. This will provide cross-cultural experiences and holistic learning opportunities for students participating in the program. Not only deploying projects in Vietnam but UEH students can also participate in SEED projects in different countries in Southeast Asia based on the institution and host country.

Additional photos relating to the project: