The Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City organized a ceremony on Thursday to announce the establishment of the Institute for Circular Economy Development (ICED).

This is Vietnam’s first circular economy institute.

The institute is intended to research and develop a circular economy in the Southeast Asian country on the foundation of an enterprise, government, and university ecosystem, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Huynh Dat, director of the university, remarked at the ceremony.

“Setting up the ICED, the Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City targets a circular economy connection between Vietnam and the world,” Dr. Dat said.

The institute will become a tech transfer center dedicated to sustainable development in Vietnam, he added.

The ICED will open up opportunities for stakeholders to induce a circular economy, creating social and economic benefits from the proper use of resources and energy, said Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Hong Quan, director of the institute.

VinaCapital, a Vietnamese investment and asset management firm, and local food company Nutifood will provide funds to run the institute.

A circular economy is a restorative or regenerative industrial system prioritizing restoration, transitioning to renewable energy use, ruling out toxic chemical utilization, and aiming for the elimination of waste to protect the environment, according to the UK-registered Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

The Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City is one of Vietnam’s two largest university blocs, alongside its equivalent in Hanoi.

The grouping has 27 units of training, scientific research, and technology transfer, as well as eight member schools, according to its website.

The university bloc currently enrolls above 60,000 full-time students, boasting an academic team of more than 300 professors and associate professors together with over 1,200 doctors.

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