HCMC – Phan Lan Anh, Pham Ha Vy, and Dao Hoang Nguyen, who are ninth-graders at Olympia High School in Hanoi, claimed the top prize in a business innovation contest.

The Vietnam Business Innovation Challenge 2024 (VBIC 2024), held on April 7 by The Olympia Schools in coordination with Fulbright University Vietnam, is a business case competition for students. Starting from January 2024, the competition attracted over 260 teams with more than 780 contestants from 10 countries and territories, including Australia, the U.S., Qatar, Hong Kong, and Germany. After two rounds of document selection and online presentations addressing real business problems, 13 teams were chosen to enter the final round. The winner was team Pioneer, including Anh, Vy, and Nguyen, with a proposal to partner with factories in China and India to optimize production costs, with a long-term strategy of building an assembly plant in Vietnam to reduce import costs. The first runner-up was team NSA of three tenth-graders from British International School HCMC, who suggested building an assembly factory in Vietnam. Third place went to team MBB Quitters, which consisted of a ninth-grader from Ngee Ann Secondary School in Singapore, an eleventh-grader and a twelfth-grader from Olympia High School in Hanoi. This team submitted two proposals: one for building a green supply chain to protect the environment, and the other for building an ecosystem for high-end products. VBIC 2024 offers a range of awards and opportunities to participants. The top three outstanding teams receive full sponsorship for a one-week study trip at Fulbright University Vietnam. Additionally, the top 13 outstanding teams receive scholarships to cover the costs of EntreTour, a one-week program in the Philippines. Furthermore, top 50 receive scholarships for selected courses at EF Education First Vietnam.