Contest launched by Committee for Ethnic Minorities Affairs, World Bank, and Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with a deadline for submissions of August 31. Photo: World Bank
The ceremony was attended by Minister and Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA), the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the Country Director of the World Bank in Vietnam, the Australian Chargé d’Affaires, representatives from ministries, agencies, and sectors, the media, and Humanitarian Ambassador, Miss Universe Vietnam, H’Hen Nie.
The contest was launched to support the development and implementation of new, innovative ideas regarding value chains, expanding market access opportunities for products from ethnic minorities in Vietnam while contributing to the preservation and promotion of their cultural strengths and traditional knowledge and enhancing the role and capacity of ethnic minority women and young people in escaping from poverty and finding prosperity.
The contest is part of a series of activities by CEMA and international partners, media partners, and Party and government agencies to support ethnic minorities to catch up with national trends in startup that contribute to poverty reduction and boost prosperity in ethnic minority areas, including national forums on entrepreneurship and value chains for ethnic minorities, a number of ceremonies honoring distinguished ethnic minority startups, a program to support market links for ethnic minority products, and an Ethnic Minority Development Communications Program.
Eligible entrants include individuals, groups of individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives, cooperative groups, and ethnic minorities with ideas for developing cooperation or partnerships with ethnic minorities anywhere in Vietnam that contribute to resolving one or both of the following issues: i) Developing value chains benefiting ethnic minority women and young people, or ii) Creating an enabling environment for the development of value chains that benefit ethnic minorities, especially women and young people.
Contest timeline:
Round I: Shortlisting of ideas, with a deadline for submission of close of business on August 31. A maximum of 50 ideas will be selected and announced on October 1.
Round II: Shortlisted ideas will be provided with training and support so they can be developed into project proposals. Deadline for proposals is close of business on December 15. Selected proposals will be announced on January 18.
Candidates with project ideas selected in Round I will receive support and consultancy from experts to develop and finalize a detailed project proposal to submit in Round II. Projects selected in Round II will receive funding for implementation.
