The entrepreneurial journey from the classroom
In Can Tho City, many young people proactively participate in extracurricular activities to learn about entrepreneurship while still in university. Through creative idea competitions and intensive training programs, students hone their business thinking, teamwork skills, and adaptability in a dynamic and competitive work environment. Each experience is a vivid lesson, nurturing their entrepreneurial aspirations and providing a solid foundation for their future careers.
A group of students from Can Tho University of Technology won the third prize in the "Digital Business Student" competition.
From 2023 to the present, Huynh Van Men, a student majoring in Finance and Banking at Can Tho University of Technology, along with his friends, has participated in 12 startup idea competitions organized by the university, provinces, and ministries. As a result, Men and his friends have won 10 awards from these competitions. Most recently, in December 2025, Men's group won the Third Prize in the "Digital Business Student" competition and first prize for digital business idea, organized by the Vietnam E-commerce Association in collaboration with the Network of E-commerce Training Institutions (VecomNet). With their project "Durimilk" (durian seed milk), Men and four other students from the Business Administration, Finance and Banking, and Accounting majors impressed the competition judges with its feasibility and solutions for promoting the value of local agricultural products.
According to Mến, the "Durimilk" project was initiated by a research team in May 2025, under the guidance of Dr. Ngô Anh Tuấn, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. Based on the reality that most durian seeds are discarded and not reused, leading to resource waste; and through experiments showing that durian seeds contain many vitamins and antioxidants, and are high in calories, the team developed the idea of processing milk from durian seeds. Mến stated that the team used sterilization technology to extend the shelf life to 12 months. Before launching, the team tested the product at the Center for Technical Standards and Quality Measurement in Can Tho City.
More importantly, participating in the competition gave Mến the opportunity to hone her online sales skills, plan marketing ideas, and conduct business on e-commerce platforms. This was a "real-world" experience, helping Mến access and utilize e-commerce platforms in her business, thereby developing an entrepreneurial mindset closely linked to technology, data, and the market.
Students Thach Hoang Anh and Tran Kim Bao, both majoring in Finance and Banking, and Tran Thi Ngoc Tram, majoring in Chemical Engineering, from Can Tho University, collaborated on the project "Developing a Circular Value Chain for Organic Adhesives." The project won third prize in the "Students and Young Entrepreneurs with Innovative Startup Ideas" competition in 2025, organized by the Can Tho City Department of Science and Technology.
Team leader Thach Hoang Anh said: “The project aims to recycle and utilize agricultural by-products such as straw, coffee grounds, sugarcane bagasse, and water hyacinth to create organic charcoal, composed of 70% agricultural by-products combined with 30% organic resin. Weighing 8 grams per briquette, organic charcoal is an ideal replacement for traditional charcoal, ensuring a long-lasting flame, producing no harmful smoke, suitable for cooking, heating, or industrial use, and contributing to environmental protection.” According to Hoang Anh, participating in the competition allowed him to gain valuable knowledge, experience the scientific research process, and hone many soft skills: project presentation writing, public speaking, teamwork, and logical thinking in scientific research.
During the 2023-2025 period, the Can Tho University Student Union and Association organized numerous activities to support students in developing entrepreneurial skills. Highlights included a conference guiding students in participating in scientific research, the "Science and Entrepreneurship Cafe" program, the "Potential Startup Project" competition, and various creative idea competitions for the community. The entire university had 1,049 research projects and scientific ideas at the university level led by students, with a total support budget exceeding 16 billion VND.
From 2022 to the present, the city's Youth Union branches have provided career guidance counseling to over 600,000 students; and coordinated 54 activities to support students' learning and scientific research, with over 30,000 students participating. Many activities have inspired and fostered an entrepreneurial spirit among students through interactions with successful entrepreneurs, visits to and learning about startup businesses, etc. This has contributed to shaping a generation of young people with sufficient knowledge, skills, and confidence, creating a solid foundation for their future entrepreneurial journey.