Youth playing key role in exchanges with Vietnam

It was a special moment for Le Thu Lua, representative of Sunwah Group's Hanoi office, when Professor Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, toured the ULIS-Jonathan KS Choi Cultural Centre during the president's Vietnam state visit from Dec 12-13.

Donated by Sunwah Group Chairman Jonathan Choi Koonshum, the cultural center was inaugurated in 2015 at the Vietnam National University, or VNU, in Hanoi. The group, a conglomerate based in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, has invested in Vietnam for over 50 years.

"I felt very happy and also honored (by Peng's visit)," said Lua, who speaks fluent Mandarin.

Noting the cultural center aims to promote cultural exchange between Vietnam and other countries, including China, Lua said Peng's visit is another milestone for the center and showed its success.

During the tour on Dec 13, Peng was accompanied by Phan Thi Thanh Tam, wife of Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong, and had cordial exchanges and interactions with representatives of Vietnamese students who are learning Chinese.

Earlier this year, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also held exchanges with local students at the cultural center during their visit to Vietnam in June and August, respectively.

Besides acting as a platform for cultural exchange, the center also hosts the ULIS-Sunwah Chinese Teaching and Research Center, a joint project between the University of Languages and International Studies of the VNU and the group.

"I think youth plays a key role in enhancing China-Vietnam friendship," said Lua. She was among the first batch of Vietnamese students who came to study in China in 2008 under a scholarship provided by the Sunwah Foundation and now aims to promote friendly exchanges between the two countries.

Lua said that the research center, through cooperation with different organizations, has been working to promote bilateral exchange through various events, such as Chinese teaching seminars, training courses for Vietnamese officials, and youth exchange programs.

"We believe that young people are the future," said Jesse Choi, director of Sunwah Vietnam, noting the contribution of the youth in driving innovation.

Mutual understanding

Though the initial goal of setting up the cultural center was to use culture as a medium for mutual understanding to enhance bilateral friendship, Choi said he is glad to see that the center has developed to include international outreach for the university to host various cultural exchange programs with parties from all over the world.

Seeing opportunities in Vietnam's burgeoning digital economy and the potential for it to connect with Hong Kong's startup ecosystem, Choi, also chief executive officer of Sunwah Innovations, said the group has been working to promote innovation in Vietnam.

In 2018, Sunwah Innovations brought Vietnamese startup Cyfeer to the Elevator Pitch Competition held by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks, or HKSTP, to compete with entrepreneurs from more than 200 countries and regions.

Cyfeer finished in the top 10 of the competition and was awarded a six-month training program at the HKSTP.

Cyfeer CEO Phong Pham said the experience of competing in Hong Kong allowed him to understand how people around the world conduct business.

"I believe that the future of the world lies here in Asia," said Phong.