Attending the conference was Prof. Soemon Takakuwa - former Dean of the Nagoya University’s Faculty of Business Administration. Representing the VNU University of Economics and Business to attend the conference were Assoc.Prof.Dr. Tran Anh Tai - Vice-Rector, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Hoang Van Hai - Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, Dr. Nguyen Dang Minh and the UEB’s faculty members. Besides, there were also researchers, representatives of ministries, government’s agencies and Vietnamese enterprises.
The conference took place to bring scientists a forum to discuss practical issues related to technology management, including lessons learned from Japan which are useful for Vietnamese enterprises. The conference theme is also an important content and useful for graduate students and students of the UEB, especially in the major of Technology management and Corporation development which is associated between training and research, taught by experienced experts of Vietnam and abroad.

Prof. Takakuwa, who has expertise in the field of technology management with two Ph.D degrees, in economics and management, former leader of the Asian Core Program research and consulting team for large corporations in Japan such as Toyota, NEC, etc. presented on green manufacturing based on technology management. He has presented in an attractive way about the technology transfering process from developed countries to developing ones. He also emphasized the opportunities for developing countries like Vietnam in access and catch up with the world, thereby Vietnam should know how to take advantage the technology power. The professor mentioned a new approach in the use of technology such as green manufacturing and the experience of Japan in transfering from the old model to the industrial model.
In fact, in the 1960s and 1970s, Japan has encountered the environmental pollution caused by industrial development like Vietnam today. Afterward, Japanese had remarkably strong solution to change their perception and to enforce law on environmental protection as a green manufacturing movement.

Beside Japanese experience in applying technology in green manufacturing, two speakers, Dr. Hoang Van Hai and Dr. Nguyen Dang Minh, also shared about the approach to technology management and its situation in Vietnam.
According to Dr. Hoang Van Hai, several Vietnamese enterprises are successful thanks to the bold application of technology and using technology to make profit such as VNPT, Viettel, Nha Be Garment Corporation. Other brands have tried but then fail like HT-Mobile, S-fone when applying CDMA technology in Vietnam. So what is behind technology issue? It is the viewpoint of technology approach and innovative thinking.
Dr. Nguyen Dang Minh stressed that Vietnam now need to change the views of technology management. In the current context of Vietnam, enterprises should pay attention to “soft” technologies rather than merely the “hard parts”. Therefore, businesses should adopt lean management in technology and sustainable development to make a breakthrough in technological development.

The conference participants also discussed about practical issues of technology management in Vietnam. Mr. Bui Quang Tuyen from Military Telecom Corporation (Viettel) shared perspective on the technological development in the telecommunications industry. “In the telecommunications sector, the information technology is combined with telecommunications; it is difficult to tell about saturation in the market due to its widespread popularity into every corner of life, which requires potential of technological creation in society. In Vietnam, the application of information technology and telecommunications is potential to apply in public administration, health care, reforms in education and in the corporate governance, Mr. Tuyen said.
Mr. Phan Quoc Nguyen, who is an expert on intellectual property and technology transfer, said we should change way of approach to technology and focus on product practicality. Accordingly, Vietnam should be aware of how to approach and use technology to take benefit of the technology.
The discussion was about specific issues such as development and technology transfer in agriculture, the cooperation mechanism among the state, the institutes and the manufacturer. The participants agreed that the biggest challenge for Vietnam enterprises is the awareness of technology management to accelerate the innovation and technology usage. In this process, the role of the institutes is to conduct basic research with high applicability; while the manufacturer is required to support scientists to develop research products into the specific application. The policy of the state needs to motivate the development of technology for Vietnam’s economy in the future.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Hoang Van Hai noted that the conference is within a series jointly held by Nagoya University and VNU University of Economics and Business. In conclusion, the conference further confirmed the close partnership between the two universities in the field of research and training, as well as open up new cooperation opportunities in technology management between Vietnamese and Japanese partners.
Previously, Nagoya University and VNU University of Economics and Business had successfully held the international conference on sustainable manufacturing and environmental management.

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