Ride-hailing firm Uber on Tuesday entered into a co-operation deal with the Viet Nam Youth Federation (VYF), a social organisation of Vietnamese youths aided by the Government to mentor start-ups.

The agreement is part of Uber’s start-up initiative in Viet Nam called UberExchange.

UberExchange is part of Uber’s mission to create a startup ecosystem with the VYF. All start-ups across the country are encouraged to apply for the programme through an online application process and global leaders at Uber will provide mentorship sessions from April to August 2017 with selected start-ups.

The sessions will culminate in a finale with Uber short-listing 10 start-ups who will present their business ideas. The startup with the most impressive presentation will be flown to San Francisco to meet Uber’s senior leadership and potential investors.

“Uber’s goal is to stand side by side with the Vietnamese entrepreneur on the way to start their new business, helping them open their minds, as well as develop strategies for entrepreneurship, contributing to making Viet Nam become a regional start-up hub,” said Mike Brown, Uber regional general manager for Asia-Pacific.

“Viet Nam is a young country with many great young minds and an incredible focus and passion for education and innovation. Our goal is to help the young people to achieve their dreams. The way that people measure our success on this programme is by the number of young startups that we can assist and support,” Brown said.

“VYF believes that UberExchange will be an effective platform for Vietnamese youths and businesses to learn and share experiences, build a culture of entrepreneurship with practicality and creativity, encourage creative thinking, which acts as a springboard for a strong and sustainable development of Viet Nam in the future,” said president of the Viet Nam Youth Federation Nguyen Phi Long.

Viet Nam is the second country in the world and the first in Southeast Asia that Uber introduced the UberExchange programme. The first country Uber launched the initiative in was India. — VNS