At a press conference on Monday it was announced that the 3^rd International Startup Conference and Exhibition, or SURF 2018, will take place at the Da Nang Administrative Centre, 24 Tran Phu, on 29 June.

This year’s event will have ‘Startup Capitals’ as its theme with a focus on finance, human resources, society, native culture and technologies.

It is expected to attract a total of over 60 startup projects, 30 famous speakers, and over 300 programmers, along with more than 2,000 entrepreneurs from both home and abroad.

As many as 50 stands of startup projects will be set up at the event to facilitate participants to advertise their products and seek their cooperation opportunities.

The highlight of this year’s event is a startup pitch competition. The qualifying rounds of the competition will take place from 30 May to 15 June. The 6 most outstanding teams will advance to the final round. The winner will receive a total cash-prize of up to 100 million VND.

In addition, there will be many exciting activities such as a connection party, a recruitment day, and tours to local universities, in a bid to enhance the connectivity between startup lovers and potential customers. Also, seminars on artificial intelligence, block chain startup, and smart urban will be organised.

In his remarks at the press conference, Mr Doron Lebovich, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Israeli Embassy in Viet Nam, said that SURF Da Nang has been organised in a larger scale and more professional manner year by year. He also highlighted the vital role of the city government in building a startup ecosystem.

He also noted that SURF 2018 is the largest startup event in Da Nang, and Viet Nam as a whole.

Mr Lebovich said since 2017 many Israeli startup experts have been sent to Da Nang. During this year, his country would expand bilateral cooperative relations in the startup aspect with Da Nang.

He remarked that 2 experts from Israel will take part in sharing startup experience and selecting outstanding startup projects at the SURF next month.

The Embassy of Israel in Viet Nam will bring virtual reality technology to the event.