"Viet Nam must strive to have outstanding universities linked closely to economies needs and the country should create incentives to create a vocational training system like Switzerland or Germany has."— File Photo

Andrej Motyl, the Swiss ambassador to Viet Nam, and Daphna Murvitz of Israeli company Systematic Inventive Thinking, said good schools and universities are indispensable for business success because they are the source of innovation.

Motyl said Switzerland has few natural resources including agricultural land and no access to the sea, but is lies between Europe's leading innovators like Italy, France, and Germany.

"Switzerland is a nation of German tribes, French tribes, and Italian tribes. The extraordinary economic diversity of the country contributes to new interdisciplinary connections, which create the environment for new innovative highways."

Viet Nam must strive to have outstanding universities linked closely to economies needs and the country should create incentives to create a vocational training system like Switzerland or Germany has.

"World champion companies are cluster producers, a huge challenge for every country to have some, but it takes decades to have some.

"Viet Nam has an incredible reservoir of people for tourism, but needs to get a special label like cooking for homestay."

Viet Nam also needs a climate to promote small and medium-sized enterprises which are the backbones of innovation and resilience, he said.

Intellectual property protection is imperative for development, he added.

Dr Giap Van Duong, founder of massive open online course GiapSchool, said, quoting the experience of South Korea and Singapore, it is clear that close ties between enterprises, universities, and research institutes are needed for innovation. — VNS