Yplatform: Our History

2014

2013

The very first batch of Yplatform Solvers went through training sessions in Hanoi on problem solving methodology & techniques with the consultants from McKinsey & Company (Vietnam) – our partner.

2012

“Chúng tôi cho rằng hoạt động của Yplatform thật sự trong sáng và có ý nghĩa thiết thực với Doanh nghiệp Việt Nam trong thời buổi hội nhập toàn cầu. Các em sinh viên đã thể hiện tài năng và bản lĩnh của mình một cách rất thuyết phục và ấn tượng. Các giải pháp cho tình huống mà chúng tôi đưa ra đều có tính sáng tạo, đột phá và dựa trên những luận điểm, nghiên cứu vững chắc. Vinamilk tin rằng các em đã có được những sự trải nghiệm quý giá cùng với công ty Vinamilk nói riêng và toàn bộ chương trình nói chung. Chúng tôi rất hy vọng vào một ngày không xa, những ý kiến đề xuất của các em sẽ được đưa vào áp dụng trong thực tiễn kinh doanh của công ty Vinamilk và chúng tôi sẽ được nhìn thấy các em sinh viên của ngày hôm nay phát triển trở thành những lãnh đạo tài ba trong tương lai.” (Ms. Bui Thi Huong – PR Director, Vinamilk)

In addition, we also held a panel discussion on the topic “Vietnamese businesses’ ambition on the international playground”, with the participation of Ms. Vu Kim Hanh (BSA) and senior management of the 3 partner companies.

2011

In addition, we also held a panel discussion with the management of partner companies on the topic “Enhancing Vietnamese business competitiveness leveraging on youth empowerment”. The discussion was moderated by Ms. Vu Kim Hanh.

We realized that we should not aim for just a Business CasC competition, but we should aspire to create a bridge between talented youth and the business community in Vietnam, and to create a conducive platform where like-minded individuals (regardless of locations, nationalities, or backgrounds) can network, share, and work together in the joint effort to strengthen Vietnamese business competitiveness in local and global market. The youth possess the passion to put the skills and knowledge trained from internationally recognized institutions into practice. Vietnamese businesses have the ambitions to grow and venture into new waters, but it could be worth to have international perspectives to look into and make the ambition more complete. It is this gap that Yplatform envisioned to fulfill and TOGETHER, we hope to lay the first brick of a model that could possibly contribute something tangible to the well-being of our country – Vietnam.

In Ychallenge, we would like to create a playground for young talents in Singapore to apply their skills and knowledge to solve specific business problems faced by the business community in Vietnam on their journey to explore and conquer the global market. For example, participants may be asked to demonstrate their market research competency in gathering market intelligence then forming recommendations for a Vietnamese canned food company to penetrate into the Singapore supermarket system. The finale will, then, be the chance for finalist teams to showcase their excellent research and business proposals although initially prepared for specific companies but general lessons can be learnt and applicable to a wider business community in Vietnam.

We also decided on Ychallenge Business Case Competition which will be the next event of Yplatform. There have been a score of potent events that have challenged our courage, patience and mentality; but we now felt the urge to build up and utilize collective intelligence and expertise to bestow our homeland facing new challenges.

2010

Ysummit 2010 with the theme of “Discover the Opportunities to Groom Your Talents for Vietnam” took place in Hon Sui Sen Auditorium (National University of Singapore).

More than 200 students and young professionals in Singapore was inspired by the 17 high-profile guest speakers who are the forerunners with diverse backgrounds in academia and business from both Singapore and Vietnam (e.g. Mdm. Pham Chi Lan, Mdm. Ton Nu Thi Ninh, Dr. Vu Minh Khuong, Dr. Albert Teo, Mr. Albert Antoine, Dr. Phan Quoc Viet, Mr. Le Hong Minh, etc.) who have shared their experience and discussed about the various opportunities to contribute to Vietnam’s development. There were 7 panel discussions with topics about education, entrepreneurship, youth-led initiatives, science and technology, corporate career path, roles of the youth, and the synergy of overseas Vietnamese communities.

The event was an inspiring experience for the organizers, speakers, and participants; and was covered on a number of leading newspapers in Vietnam like VietNamNet, Nhân Dân, Tiền Phong, NDHMoney, etc. Please click HERE to see more pictures of Ysummit 2010.

VNG Corporation is confirmed as the Gold Sponsor of Ysummit 2010. Since then, VNG Corporation has become one of the most important corporate partners of Yplatform, and has also supported our Ychallenge 2011 and Ychallenge 2012 business case competitions.

The Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy (NUS Business School) joined Ysummit 2010 as a partner and venue sponsor.

Mdm. Pham Chi Lan (Former Member of the Prime Minister’s Research Commission of Vietnam, and Former Vice President of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry) agreed to join Ysummit 2010 as our first Guest Speaker. Two years later, since May 2012, Mdm. Pham Chi Lan has joined Yplatform’s Board of Advisors to further support us.

The first meeting of the whole Ysummit big team. The team has now grown into 21 members from 9 members.

The name Yplatform was initiated. Although Yplatform itself has not really established yet, we know that we are working towards it, and Ysummit will be one of the key starting points to create a network of committed and empowered individuals and inaugurate such platform (Yplatform) where the youth can exchange ideas, find mutual voices, explore opportunities and seek supports to realize ideas and translate their talents into meaningful impacts for Vietnam.

We have decided to organize our first event, called the “Youth Symposium” (which was later named “Ysummit“) to provide the youth with useful knowledge/opportunities to broaden their perspectives on how Vietnamese youth can be part of the country’s development.

More than half a year has passed. The team has been embarking on their own different journeys, some very far to the other continents (like Europe and Africa), some with their own initiatives, some venturing into the depth of their own souls. But the team do not forget their initial promises. They gathered in a meeting room in Singapore Management University (SMU) and discussed about their real passions. Ms. Le Thi Ngoc Giao joined the meeting through Skype. Mr. Dang Tan Duc drafted a paper below about Vietnamese youth which still served as one of our key references. We once again re-affirmed our spirit of “CONNECT – EMPOWER – INSPIRE“.

2009

One of our founding members, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tuan Anh raised an idea of the “open platform” to gather like-minded young people, develop their potentials, and empower them with capacity/supports so that they can make impactful contributions. The idea was quickly shared by the team.

Dr. Vu Minh Khuong (Assistant Professor at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore) came on board as our first Advisor to support our causes.

Dr. Khuong suggested us to focus on an important question: “How can Vietnamese companies increase their global competitiveness?” The team agreed with Dr. Khuong to start thinking about it (later, this idea has become a key long-term building block for Yplatform).

Those passionate Vietnamese students/young professionals gathered at a fast-food restaurant in CityVibe building, Clementi (Singapore) and started thinking about how overseas Vietnamese youth in Singapore can contribute to the sustainable development of Vietnam. The slogan of “CONNECT – EMPOWER – INSPIRE” was agreed upon and is still in practice until today. Ms. Le Thi Ngoc Giao was in Australia at that time, but participated in spirit.

Except Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tuan Anh who has been working for one year, all others were students of National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Management University (SMU), and Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Having served in various leadership positions in the Vietnamese student organizations as well as other student clubs in their universities, and been inspired by I4Vietnam, they felt the needs to bring those activities to a greater scale, and that the Vietnamese youth in Singapore could do much more to our country when coming together.

Inspired by I4Vietnam, an idea of the platform to enable Vietnamese youth to contribute to Vietnam’s sustainable development was first raised by Mr. Dang Vu Quang Thai, and quickly shared by many others.

The spirit of I4Vietnam was initiated by Mr. Dang Tan Duc, which was then the first event in Singapore where Vietnamese students gathered to share ideas for Vietnam’s development. The event was well received, and was attended by the Ambassador of Vietnam to Singapore, His Excellency Mr. Nguyen Trung Thanh, as the Guest of Honours.

Our founding member, Mr. Dang Tan Duc (then President of VNCNUS), presented a token of appreciation to His Excellency Mr. Nguyen Trung Thanh – Ambassador of Vietnam to Singapore.