On Monday, the Da Nang Entrepreneurship Support Company (DNES), and the Rubicon Centre of the Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) together entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on start-up support and business development.  The signing of the MoU is a part of a cooperation agreement reached in March between the Da Nang People’s Committee and the Irish Embassy in Viet Nam.

The signing ceremony (Photo: Internet)

Under the MoU, Rubicon and DNES will join efforts to facilitate businesses from Ireland and Da Nang to access their partners’ markets.  Top priority will be given to exchanging their human resources and useful information about their incubator and start-up programmes.  Heed will also be paid to creating a group of angel investors, and providing start-up experts and consultants for start-up businesses from both sides.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Chairman of the Da Nang Coordination Council for the Business Start-up Network, Mr Vo Duy Khuong, remarked “Da Nang is focusing on creating start-up training programmes for local pupils and students, and offering training in start-up teaching skills for lecturers and management officials of local junior colleges and universities.”

Ms Breda Kenny, Director of the Business Centre of CIT, affirmed that Rubicon and Da Nang shared many similarities in their start-up promotion orientations.  She hoped that the bilateral cooperation would be fostered in the near future.

The Rubicon Centre is Ireland’s premier Business Incubation Centre and it is located on campus in the CIT.  The centre is now home to 57 knowledge-based start-up companies in such aspects as agriculture, fisheries and healthcare.