Ambassador of Israel to Vietnam Meirav Eilon Shahar introduces the Startup Israel 2014 competition, which is held for the first time in Viet Nam. Vietnamese startup enterprises in the field of web, mobile, agriculture and life science are all invited to take part in the contest. - VNS Photo Nguyen Huy Hoang

This is the first time the Embassy of Israel in Vietnam has organised this kind of a contest. It is being done in collaboration with Viet Nam's Ministry of Science and Technology and the Business Studies and Assistance Center.

Participating Vietnamese enterprises must have been operating for two to three year, and are required to submit their company profile and business plan in both Vietnamese and English. They also must email before October 8, 2014 to political@hanoi.mfa.gov.il a two- to three–minute video clip in English explaining why their startup should go to Israel.

Eight outstanding companies will be chosen for a final round, to be held in early November, to showcase their inventiveness to a panel of judges made up of experts chosen from among the organisers. The parameters for judging in the competition are mainly based on innovation, team spirit, business and creativity.

The judges will select four winning enterprises in each sector. Every winner will choose one representative to participate in a one-week study tour in Israel. The trip, to be held in December, will offer the winners an opportunity to meet leading Israeli entrepreneurs and technology incubators' representatives, as well as understand better how the Israeli startup ecosystem works.

Speaking at the launching ceremony on September 8 in Ha Noi, Israeli Ambassador to Vietnam Meirav Eilon Shahar said the competition aimed to enable Vietnamese startup businesses to learn from their experience and create a connection and network between Vietnamese and Israeli startup businesses.

She added that the embassy sent two Vietnamese entrepreneurs to an international seminar in Israel last year and expected to send more.

Nguyen Minh Quang, founder of VNPlay, a service allowing viewers to watch online TV, expressed interest in the competition. "It is a great opportunity to showcase the potential of our services and learn about Israel, one of the most developed startup ecosystems in the world," he said.

Tran Van Tung, deputy minister of science and technology, said the ministry aimed to develop 3,000 science and technology enterprises by 2015. He cited plans now being carried out to achieve this goal, such as the building of legal frameworks, the offering of preferential tax and assistance on technical issues.

Tung noted that the Ministry has held numerous programmes to develop technology startups in Vietnam. He added that the competition this time "aims to provide an opportunity for young enterprises to promote the spirit of business and do startups successfully." - VNS