WIForum spirit in 9 min — TEDx

Efosa Ojomo – puts it to the point. We need to rethink development aid in general. We saw a team helping farmers in Ghana to drive and repair tractors. Some learned it others not. But when the tractor broke they didn’t try to repair it but pulled out their old wood tools. While in all good intentions – it just did not provide sustainable development help.

Disrupting Development Aid

Working in Vietnam

Meeting with the ITP leadership team of the University of Ho Chi Minh City. An impressive presentation where Vietnam is planning to go what innovative businesses concerns. We also had some great meetings with students, who are very ambitious and eager to learn everything possible about innovative thinking and entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurs Workshop with roughly 20 top startups and scaleups from Ho Chi Minh City. It was great fun to work with these super engaged and highly competitive teams. One of the things that all of them have in common with any top startup in the world: determination to win.

Investors meetings at the Kova facility. We discussed investor strategies, ways to select startups, due diligence processes and post investment mentoring. We also talked about the necessity to keep top companies in the country to not loose the innovative edge to somebody else.

A wonderful and very personal dinner at the Kova house. We enjoyed traditional Vietnamese food cooked by the lady of the house herself. This was an unforgettable evening.

Great discussions about innovative thinking, investment opportunities, ways to stimulate more innovation and getting startups better supported to be able to compete on a global scale. It was an amazing evening with amazing people.

HANOI

The future of innovation in Vietnam, Conference. Great and an amazing diverse speakers, high energy and very ambitious. We talked about the innovation paradigm and the value of going global for the national prosperity and wealth development.

We were invited by the University of Hanoi to speak about the Innovation Paradigm, the value creation for the national economy and what Vietnam can do to create an innovation economy within the country.

Interesting discussions about how to stimulate innovation and making innovation an even stronger point within an economy. Also we spoke about the value of speaking English as a prerequisite to participate in the global economy.

Meanwhile, Marita ran a workshop for female entrepreneurs. The interest to participate was so overwhelming that the initial 12 people roundtable had to be turned into a 70 attendee presentation and podiums discussion.

Full house at the female entrepreneurs meeting in Hanoi

A very interesting meeting at one of the largest mobile phone providers. The organization is determined to innovate and bring all new ideas to their customers. It is absolutely amazing to see how Vietnam turned from a rather poor country, dependent on donations, just three decades ago, into a vibrant emerging country.

An equally great meeting at one of the top business banks of Vietnam. Also here, business transformation, innovation and moving from an industry follower to an industry leader is an amazing transition. We talked about how innovative thinking is not just improving the status quo but how to get to an idealistic model and back to reality.

We are looking for volunteers

Volunteering – opportunity to help, learn and make a difference. We are looking for volunteers in the countries and in our office in Zürich. See more details

We are hiring

ZÜRICH OFFICE – we are looking for four new team mates as full time employees in our office in Switzerland.

Partner and Fundraising Manager
Working with our strategic partners, other NGOs, and enablers around the world. See more details

Project Manager
Managing our core project “Prosperity for all nations” and coordinating all aspects of the project with donors and our teams in the countries. See more details

Program Manager
Managing our main programs and helping our ambassadors to implement and leverage them. See more details

Office Manager
Managing all office administration and helping with reporting and research. See more details

A very big THANK YOU to our ambassadors and their amazing teams in Vietnam and South Korea for organizing all the events, workshops, trainings, and meetings. We met almost 1,000 people in 5 weeks, and worked on countless individual topics. Also we thank the teams from Swiss EP who also helped arranging activities and making connections to people we would not have connected otherwise.

About

The World Innovations Forum Foundation is an independent, Swiss based foundation (NGO). We stand for “Prosperity for all nations”. In the respective countries, we support local entrepreneurs by growing large businesses and by exporting into global markets, create massively new jobs and contribute to the prosperity of their nation. We collaborate with Entrepreneurs Groups, Investor Networks, Universities, Governments, Ecosystem Enablers, Corporate Supporter and other NGOs.

VISION
We envision a world where prosperity is possible in all nations, through innovation and entrepreneurship – created within each country.

MINDSET
Here at the World Innovations Forum, no problem is too big, no solution too bold, and no idea too crazy. If we can think it, we can create it. We are here to help entrepreneurs make the impossible a reality, for the benefit of their respective society.