The 2nd Vietnam-Czech Roundtable on Higher Education, Science & Technology, and Innovation brought together representatives of 16 universities from the two countries, nine attending in person in Prague and seven joining online, alongside Czech government officials and industry associations. The Embassy of Vietnam in the Czech Republic and Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU) jointly organized the event, with an official program running from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m., followed by an evening networking dinner.
Opening the meeting, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Czech Republic H.E. Mr. Duong Hoai Nam urged participants to move beyond isolated academic exchanges toward long-term partnerships with measurable outcomes, highlighting artificial intelligence, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, green energy and biotechnology as areas of shared potential under the countries' Strategic Partnership. Dr. David Müller, Director General at the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade, confirmed the ministry's support for deeper links between universities, research institutes and industry, while Mr. Lukáš Martin of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic represented the business side of the discussion.
From research corridor to venture pipeline
Among the sessions, Dr. Vít Dočkal, Director of the International Neurodegenerative Disorders Research Center (INDRC), presented the operating model and roadmap for the CVDI Hub, a bilateral platform designed to carry Vietnamese and Czech research beyond publications and pilot projects into fundable, investable companies. The hub's founding partners include INDRC, Czech Technical University in Prague, Tomas Bata University and the Zlín Region on the Czech side, and TDTU, the Vietnam Aviation Academy, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Engineering, and Hung Vuong Hospital on the Vietnamese side. The platform is explicitly open to further partners.
The CVDI Hub's pipeline runs from project identification and screening, through a remote "DeepTech Living Lab" and a three-month boot camp in Zlín, to pre-seed financing of up to EUR 100,000, with total investment reaching up to EUR 1 million per company across pre-seed and seed rounds. The initial phase targets four technology areas: healthcare (AI-assisted diagnostics and clinical decision support), agriculture and drones (precision farming and autonomous mapping), robotics and AI (machine vision and certifiable autonomous systems), and green energy (microgrids, battery analytics and digital twins). Over a five-year horizon, the initiative's stated ambition is to incubate at least 40 Vietnamese-origin technologies through Czech legal entities, with an aggregate exit valuation of no less than EUR 350 million. The pilot project already carries the official patronage of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade under its Czech-IndoPacific Impact Accelerator (CZACRA) program.
Five agreements signed
The meeting resulted in signing of five cooperation documents:
- a memorandum of understanding and a student exchange agreement between Hanoi University and the University of South Bohemia;
- a memorandum between Hanoi University and Tomas Bata University in Zlín;
- a Memorandum of Understanding formally establishing the CVDI Hub as a joint Czech-Vietnam platform, signed by representatives of the founding partner institutions on both sides, including Dr. Vít Dočkal on behalf of INDRC and Prof. Václav Snášel on behalf of CLARA, and witnessed by Ambassador Duong Hoai Nam;
- and a memorandum between TDTU and the Union of Vietnamese People Associations in Europe, aimed at connecting Vietnamese professionals across Europe with academic and innovation partners at home.
Closing the Roundtable, TDTU President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Trong Dao emphasized shifting from dialogue toward implementation during the 2026/2027 academic year, including further development of the CVDI Hub and preparations for joint international activities planned for 2027. Among those activities, organizers pointed to the International UAV Competition, expected to be held at TDTU in September 2027, and set a tentative date for the 3rd Vietnam-Czech Roundtable, September 23-24, 2027, in Ho Chi Minh City, coinciding with TDTU's 30th anniversary.
For INDRC, the Prague meeting marked another step in a longer-running relationship: the center signed its first collaboration agreement with TDTU and the Vietnam Aviation Academy in November 2025, laying the groundwork for the CVDI Hub that was formally advanced in Prague this September.
Photo credit: European Cooperation Center (ECC), Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU)
The original article can be read here:
- 2nd Vietnam-Czech Roundtable: From Academic Networking to Concrete Cooperation in Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation
- TDTU Co-Organizes Second Vietnam-Czech Roundtable on Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation.
For those interested in the full details behind the CVDI Hub, including its phased timeline, priority technology areas, and investment structure, the presentation delivered by Dr. Vít Dočkal at the Roundtable is attached below.
Download the full CVDI Hub presentation (PDF)
