The Vietnamese Talents Awards, 2014 for the southern region was officially launched in HCM City on the afternoon of June 25.

The organisation board and judge panel for Vietnamese Talents Awards 2014.

The launch ceremony, at HCM City University of Technology, attracted the participation of Bui Quoc Viet, Director of VNPT’s Centre for Information and Public Relation, Pham Tuan Anh, Deputy Editor-in-chief of Dantri online newspaper, Dr. Nguyen Long from the organisation board and the jury panel, Dr. Nguyen Hoi Nghia, Deputy Director of Vietnam National University – HCM City (VNU-HCM).

A number of scientists, sponsors, as well as nearly 1,000 students from some universities in HCM City also took part in the event.

Nearly 1,000 students from some universities in HCM City attended the event.

The award, initiated by the Vietnam Study Encouragement Association, was co-organised by VNPT, Vietnam Television (VTV) and Dantri online newspaper. This is the tenth of its kind to be organised. The awards have also been initiated in Hanoi.

Bui Quoc Viet said that over the last nine years, HCM City has taken the lead for the largest number of contestants and entries as well as awards, mostly from VNU-HCM.

“In the last nine years of the Vietnamese Talents Awards we have had stable sponsors like VNPT as well as several other sponsors such as Vingroup, Vietcombank, ABBank, Jetstar Pacific Airlines. This year, some other potential sponsors have come up, including ECO and SEABank. In the last five years Professor Nguyen Van Hieu personally donated VND100 million (USD4,681) per year to the awards fund. This points to the willingness of organistions to sponsor talent for the sake of society," said Pham Tuan Anh, Deputy Editor-in-chief of Dantri online newspaper.

Pham Tuan Anh, Deputy Editor-in-chief of Dantri online newspaper speaking at the event.

Each year the organisation board receives an average of over 200 entries, half of which are sent from the South. Several products that have won the award have been put to real use in a varying sectors, including education, healthcare, entertainment, tourism, tax management, transportation, corporate management and e-commerce.

Scholarships granted to disadvantaged but outstanding students

On the occasion of this event, the organisation board granted 25 scholarships worth VND2 million (USD93.63) each to disadvantaged but outstanding students from the HCM City University of Technology.