Circular agriculture application GC-PLUS reached the final of the contest Green Startup Project

On the afternoon of September 18, at the School of Public Policy and Rural Development - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (No. 45 Dinh Tien Hoang, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), the Organizing Committee of the Semi-finals of the 9th contest Green Startup Project - 2023 announced 15/43 projects reaching the final round of the competition.

According to the results of the Organizing Committee, 15 projects entered the final round spread across 10 provinces and cities. Among them, the locality with the highest number of projects is Quang Nam, with 3 projects, followed by Ho Chi Minh City, Dak Lak, and Lam Dong. Each locality has 2 projects. Thus, after the first semi-final round in Ben Tre, 8 projects were found, along with 15 projects in the second semi-final round in Ho Chi Minh City. To date, are 23 projects in the final round of this year's contest.

Among the 15 projects in this semi-final round, many projects target circular agriculture and indigenous resources. Such as the GC PLUS circular agriculture project (Ninh Thuan), Snakehead leaf sausage (Dong Thap), Rooftop circular farm (Da Nang), Herbal tea and herbal application products based on Japanese Medical Herb (Dak Lak), The main model of ginseng development is associated with culture - cuisine - tourism in mountainous areas and poor communes (Hue);

Sustainable artichoke production (Lam Dong); Production of vegetable noodle soup (Binh Dinh); Processing products from asparagus according to a sustainable chain link model in the flooded area of Go Noi - Quang Nam; New development step in urban agriculture (HCMC)...

Mrs. Nguyen Cam Chi, Chairwoman of the Management Board of the Foundation of Youth Empowerment (FYE), a jury member, said that today's young entrepreneurs have conveyed a message about their desire to bring new culture and native cuisine of our homeland to reach more people.

According to Mrs. Cam Chi, many projects still encounter some problems. In addition to main production and business, there are also legal issues. Many of our projects have not yet been registered, tested, or have financial or financial marketing, brand recognition, customer positioning, etc... However, these can all be completed after the contest.

With the Vietnam Carbon Credit Exchange project, the judges said that commercializing this project has many risks. To reach the point of being able to trade, it must go through many steps, and the project needs to learn. , adjust…

Judge Huynh Phuoc Nghia, an expert of GIBC Global Consulting Company and lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, said that measuring carbon emissions and the legal corridor for the carbon credit exchange project will be very difficult. Sources need further research.

In addition to comments and advice, the jury also noted many business conditions related to pharmaceutical and cosmetic issues from laboratories, factories, water sources...

"The generations of young people who start experiments today will be the future generations of young farmers, helping Vietnam's agriculture reach further," Mrs. Cam Chi hopes.

In addition to the 15 projects in the final round, the Organizing Committee awarded the NTFP - Vietnam Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Program. Each project gets VND 10 million in cash for the Dak Giang Can Wine project, a cultural specialty of the Bahbar people, and the Vre Dried Bamboo Shoot natural product project to help K'ho Phan Son women escape poverty.

Next week, the third semi-final round will take place in Hanoi. The final round will take place next October in Ho Chi Minh City.

The 9th Green Startup Project Competition in 2023 is organized by the Business Studies and Assistance Center (BSA) in coordination with Vinamit Joint Stock Company, Foundation of Youth Empowerment, and Ca Mau Petroleum Fertilizer Joint Stock Company with businesses of high-quality Vietnamese goods.

Noting the opinions of some businesses accompanying the competition, it is pointed out that, in fact, many localities also have a variety of training programs to promote the rural startup ecosystem, and this is also the cradle of the startup community, joining hands with support from leading associations and businesses in the industry.

In recent years, starting a business from local resources and homeland specialties has become attractive and suitable for young people or startups with small resources because they can conquer niche markets.

According to Mrs. Vu Kim Anh, Deputy Director of the Business Studies and Assistance Center (BSA), currently, projects have made significant progress compared to 10 years ago when diversifying their product portfolio through beautiful packaging. In particular, projects that know how to exploit indigenous resources are associated with resource protection. From there, each product is a good story about their homeland.

However, for projects to continue to develop and be accepted by the market, it is necessary to invest more, including packaging, design, quality, and trade promotion.