On 29 November 2022, SMU’s Provost, Professor Timothy Clark, together with 16 other SMU faculty members, was in Vietnam to ink a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with VinUniversity. The MOU opens up opportunities for the two institutions to collaborate in various areas including student exchange programmes, SMU-X overseas courses, short-term study programmes and integrated programmes with SMU’s Masters programmes. 

The three-day visit to Hanoi was part of an SMU Learning Journey held in conjunction with the 5th anniversary of SMU’s International Advisory Council (IAC) initiative across Asia. The SMU delegation was also joined by nine regional IAC members and their representatives from across the region.

Besides VinUniversity, the Learning Journey, which was co-organised with SMU’s IAC Vietnam, also took the delegation to three organisations which are at the forefront of Southeast Asia’s innovation and digital transformation scene. The three are FPT, VinFast and KFC Vietnam, which has partnered SMU in SMU-XO courses for undergraduates.

The three-day visit to Hanoi was part of an SMU Learning Journey held in conjunction with the 5th anniversary of SMU’s International Advisory Council (IAC) initiative across Asia. The SMU delegation was also joined by nine regional IAC members and their representatives from across the region.

Spanning across three different vertical industries, the three organisations shared their corporate strategy and their best business practices, and engaged in lively discussions with SMU’s IAC and faculty members during the visits.  

A key highlight of the deep dive in Hanoi was the SMU Industry Leaders Panel held at the Lotte Hotel Hanoi. Themed ’Investing and Doing Business in Vietnam’, the event was graced by Special Guest, His Excellency Jaya Ratnam, Singapore Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Close to 50 SMU IAC members from the region, Vietnam-based Singapore company representatives, SMU faculty and SMU alumni attended the event.

Dr Mai Huu Tin, Founder, Chairman and CEO, U&I Corporation, and Member of SMU IAC in Vietnam, set the stage for the discussion, with an overview of the geological and socioeconomic factors propelling the infusion of foreign investment and realignment of the global value chain in Vietnam’s favour. In addition to the rising education level and digital connectedness of Vietnam’s young population, he shared that the vast and singular formation of Vietnam’s land mass offers key advantage to the country’s economic development.

His Excellency Jaya Ratnam, Singapore Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, was equally bullish on Vietnam’s economic growth opportunities during the panel discussion. He highlighted two key areas for collaboration between Singapore and Vietnam – energy transition and digital transformation. Mr Don Lam, CEO and co-founder of VinaCapital, and Chair of SMU IAC in Vietnam, also opined that deeper connections between Singapore and Vietnam would fuel innovation for the region, considering the international ambitions of most digital start-ups.

On the idea of an ASEAN 2.0, Dr Truong Gia Binh, Chairman of FPT Corporation was keen for the region to learn from the rise and fall of regional blocs of the past, and surmised that ASEAN can no longer look inward for sustainable growth but should adopt a collective strategy for long-term development.

“Over the years, SMU has established fruitful partnerships and friendships in Vietnam. We hope to continue to deepen our engagement with Vietnamese academia and industry, and contribute to the vibrant growth in one of the largest economies in Southeast Asia.”

This is the second SMU Learning Journey to be organised, following the inaugural Learning Journey held in 2019 in Shenzhen, China, which took the delegation to Tencent and Huawei. The initiative took a hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

The SMU International Advisory Council is a regional initiative established by SMU to seek advice from regional industry leaders on how the university may grow its footprint across China and Southeast Asia. To date, seven councils have been established in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. To view the full list of council members by country, please click here.