>> WB introduces Vietnam Innovation Day 2011
Sixteen innovative proposals were awarded prizes at Vietnam Innovation Day 2011 (VID 2011), on June 15 in Hanoi.
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| Awarding ceremony |
“The aim of this event was to focus on sustainability and equality in the context of high inflation,” said Nguyen Van Trung, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, at the award ceremony.
According to Trung, the VID 2011 organisation board received 332 proposals from organisations and individuals, 36 of which were short-listed. The number was far beyond their expectation.
He said that the panel had to work quite hard to decide which ones were the most innovative.
This year\'s winners were in the categories of energy efficiency, traditional herbal medicine and agriculture.
Each of the chosen proposals will be provided with a grant of up to VND630 million (over USD30,000).
Deepak Mishra, an economist for the World Bank in Vietnam said “The participations of communities and VID 2011’s activities have proven strong commitments of the people, the Government, donors and other agencies to improving Vietnamese people\'s lives - particularly the poor and those without access to public services - through innovation."
VID 2011 was launched in March of this year. The programme has received support from international donors such as the Danish Embassy, the Department For International Development (DFID), the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Canadian International Development Agency (CICA), Finnish Embassy and the World Bank.