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The project “Preserving Indigenous Natural Resources and Enhancing Sustainable Livelihoods through Hue’s Tea Plant” was awarded the first prize at the 2025 Hue City Innovative Startup Competition
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Attracting and Promoting Creative Potential
Hue City Creative Startup Competition has been held annually since 2016, becoming a prestigious intellectual platform that nurtures innovative ideas from young people, students, businesses, and the startup community. The year 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the competition, which has attracted strong engagement from enterprises, investors, experts, and mentors both within and beyond the city.
After 10 years of organizing, the competition has received 600 applications, with 153 projects advancing to the final round and 93 ideas and projects receiving awards. Many of these projects have expanded beyond the local level, winning regional and national prizes and gradually gaining access to international markets.
This year’s competition continued to make its mark with 94 applications, the highest number in its 10-year history. The quality of the projects showed clear improvement, demonstrating greater diversity, strong technological applicability, and close alignment with trends in the green economy and circular economy. Notably, 2 household businesses took the bold step of upgrading into enterprises, reflecting the growing maturity of Hue’s startup models.
After evaluating the final round, the judging panel selected 13 outstanding startup project ideas to be submitted by the Competition’s Standing Agency to the City People’s Committee for review and approval of the results. These include 1 First Prize, 2 Second Prizes, 3 Third Prizes, 3 Consolation Prizes, and 4 organizations or individual groups/individuals receiving awards from the Chairman of Hue City People’s Committee. Moreover, the organizers presented 3 Potential Innovative Startup Project Awards to projects that advanced to the final round of the 2025 Competition.
The projects honored this year showcase unique ideas and creative solutions to real social issues, many of which are built on Hue’s local values and distinctive advantages, aiming to sustainably exploit the indigenous resources. Notable examples include the project “Preserving Indigenous Natural Resources and Enhancing Sustainable Livelihoods through Hue’s Tea Plant”, which produces fresh tea essence using modern technology to revitalize and conserve long-standing tea-growing areas while creating stable livelihoods for locals there. Another highlight is the project on developing culinary ceramics from Phuoc Tich pottery, contributing to bringing the essence of Hue’s traditional craftsmanship into contemporary life.
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Awarding the second prizes to 2 winning projects at the 2025 Hue City Innovative Startup Competition
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Additionally, many technology and digital transformation projects demonstrated modern thinking and strong practical applicability. For example, the CheckNow project offers a real-time management and smart timekeeping solution suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises, while the VibeCoding.vn project provides an AI-powered programming support platform that helps expand digital capabilities for non-specialist learners and promotes broader access to technology within the community.
In the category of green economy-oriented, sustainable development, and socially responsible projects, participating teams proposed several noteworthy solutions. These include the “Green Concrete” project, which develops cement-free materials that help reduce CO2 emissions and make use of industrial by-products; and the “EcoChuoi” project (EcoBanana project), which turns agricultural byproducts into environmentally friendly handicraft items aligned with the growing trend of green consumption.
Promoting and Spreading the Spirit of Startup
According to the Competition’s Organizing Committee, many of the entries were highly feasible and innovative. The enthusiastic participation of young people reflected a vibrant and creative generation ready to seize opportunities to develop themselves and contribute to their hometown. For the projects that did not win awards, the authors and teams are encouraged to continue nurturing their passion, learning, improving, and seeking opportunities to further develop their ideas and projects.
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| Numerous startup products have been supported and upgraded for development |
To further foster the startup spirit, Hue City and the science and technology sector will continue to improve specialized mechanisms and policies that support the development of science, technology, and innovation-driven startup spirit. The city is also focusing resources on establishing a City Innovation Startup Support Center, thereby creating favorable conditions for projects to access creative spaces, experimental infrastructure, technology, data, and various support services throughout their development process.
Priority will be given to innovative projects with high practical applicability, especially in areas where the city holds competitive advantages, such as tourism, high-tech agriculture, information technology, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, creative industries, clean energy, and renewable energy, aligned with the green growth orientation. These efforts aim to generate sustainable economic value, protect the environment, and improve the quality of life.
The city will continue to expand investment and market connections, strengthen communication and trade promotion to support Hue’s startup products reaching domestic and international markets. It will also enhance the quality of the startup workforce through training programs on business models, product development, fundraising, and financial management for students, startup teams, and household businesses transitioning into enterprises.
Additionally, the Department of Science and Technology is focusing on building a network of mentors and experts, including scientists, administrators, and entrepreneurs, to accompany projects from the idea stage to growth. This network will provide support in expertise, strategy, and market development, as well as resource connections, thereby enhancing the quality of startup businesses and fostering the formation of competitive, innovation-driven enterprises.