The first round of the Innovation Partnership Grants, part of the Aus4Innovation programme which aims to help strengthen the Vietnamese innovation system and prepare for Viet Nam’s economic and digital future, has been launched.

These grants will provide targeted financial support to help scale already tested activities that address emerging challenges or opportunities in any sector of Viet Nam’s innovation system, according to the Australian Embassy in Viet Nam.

Grants of between 100,000 AUD and 1,000,000 AUD will be awarded on a competitive basis to existing partnerships between Australian and Vietnamese institutions for activities that can demonstrate a clear pathway for scale or sustainability in Viet Nam.

Grantees will have up to 12 months to implement their proposed activities.

The launch of this Grant programme is another step to bolster the dynamic and substantial innovation partnership between Australia and Viet Nam, which was established to create new and lasting connections in science, technology, and innovation between the two countries, said Craig Chittick, Australian Ambassador to Viet Nam.

The Innovation Partnership Grant is an important part of the 10 million AUD Aus4Innovation programme which is being carried out in four year (2018-2020). It is co-funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and InnovationXchange (IXC), managed by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and in strategic collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology of Viet Nam (MoST).

(Source: VNA)