Asia Professional Education Network (APEN) "Only One" Small Medium Enterprises (SME) Mission in Vietnam was conducted on December 19-21, 2011 in Hanoi.

It was led by the president of Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology (AIIT), and supported by Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Hanoi. The 12 delegates from selected Japanese SMEs participated in this mission.

"Only One" SME is an enterprise which has world leading high technology in specific areas.  12 candidates were selected by APEN from those SMEs which have an interest in investment and business expansion in Vietnam. APEN is an international association established in June 2011. It aims at the development and diffusion of the PBL (Project Based Learning) methodology all over Asia, in order to provide and nurture substantial numbers of qualified top and middle managers in Asian industrial sectors. It has 9 member countries, with headquarters in Japan. The Selected 12 SME are enterprises which have high technical competencies in various industrial areas, namely: auto parts, aviation parts, pharmaceutical chemicals, stationery products, grinding-stone and diamond tool, electro less Nickel plating,  pipe fittings, physics and chemistry apparatus, display for indication and etc.

The Mission took place for three days, and consisted of series of events, such as visiting industrial parks of Hai Phong, Vinh Phuc, and Bac Ninh, industry-government-academia workshop and business matching between Japanese and Vietnamese SME.

All the participants had an opportunity to make a courtesy visit and present their business plans to H.E. Mr. Truong Tan Sang, the President of Vietnam. Thanking the participants for their visit, the president recalled that the project was initiated at his suggestion and expressed his expectation of a successful collaboration between Japanese and Vietnamese SMEs in the future. The delegates also made another courtesy visit to H.E. Mr. Dang Huy Dong, the Vice Minister, Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam and made their presentation. APEN and the Ministry discussed the future development of credibility index for SME and its business.

 The Mission was concluded with the workshop on "Only One SME Mission Collaborating, University and Industry" at Vietnam National University, Hanoi. In this event, the Japanese and Vietnamese SMEs shared information related to their business and renewed their awareness of importance of the relationship between the Japanese and Vietnamese SMEs for their future business.

APEN Only One Mission in Vietnam.pdf