The 21st ASPA Annual Conference was held in HCMC, Vietnam

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On 19th October, the 34th ASPA Board of Directors meeting was held at REX Hotel. The board of directors were informed about the current status of ASPA members, events, and discussed ASPA’s important issues. It was followed by the welcome reception, where participants enjoyed introducing each other. After the welcome reception, the participants enjoyed water puppet show performed at the hotel.

On the next day, the conference was commenced with the opening remarks of Dr. Nguyễn Thành Phong, Chairman of People Committee of HCMC. Keynote speech 1 was made after then from People’s Committee of HCM city presenting HCMC’s role as a nation’s center for economic, cultural, educational and science & technology activities. It was followed by the next keynote speech by Dr. Hirohisa Uchida, President of ASPA. He made a presentation under the title of ‘KSP Inc. Celebrating Its 30th Anniversary’, explaining KSP’s status, roles and the actual data was shown to help audiences’ understanding. The keynote speech 3 was made by Dr. David Ogden Dapice, who is a leading expert on the economic development of Southeast Asia. He highlighted that improving HCMC operation is crucial for the national economy and it is not only a local issue. It was followed by a speech by Dr. Duckryul Hong, who is the president of Daegu University. He addressed the role and future of techno park in cooperation with local communities’. The last keynote speech was made by Dr. Yeong Junaq Wang, Director General of Hsinchu Science Park Bureau. He addressed challenges and prospects of science parks in Taiwan. As a side event, there was an exhibition to show the history of ASPA Annual Conference for the previous 20 years at the outside of the conference hall.

The parallel sessions consisted of speakers from Vietnam, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Bhutan, Iran and Turkey. There were five main themes ‘Science Parks in Life Sciences & Technological Development towards Better Life Quality’, ‘Asian Science and Technology Parks: Opportunities for Cooperation and Development’, ‘Internet of Things (IoT) in STPs: A New Smart City Model’, ‘Applications of Renewable Energies for Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection’ and ‘Venture Capitals (VC) for Start-Up Companies inside STPs’. Besides, ASPA Awards presentations were made by the 4 finalists and the Awards ceremony was held during the gala dinner to acknowledge promising companies in Asia

On the last day, there was a technical tour to Nanogen Biopharmaceutical and USM Healthcare company. It was a good opportunity for participants to look around the facilities and products of those companies. After then, the participants headed to Cu Chi Tunnels, where people can experience the actual tunnel used during the Vietnam war.

We would like to thank President of Saigon Hi-Tech Park, Dr. Le Hoai Quoc, the organizing committee and volunteers for hosting the successful conference in Vietnam. The next ASPA Annual Conference will be held in Vladivostok, Russia by Skolkovo Technopark.