Microsoft To Invest $3m In YouthSpark Programme

Microsoft today announced that it will invest US$3 million (£2m) in Vietnam over the next three years as part of the company’s global YouthSpark programme.

As it said on its official blog, the programme will “empower young people with opportunities for education, employment, and entrepreneurship.”

The investment will be used to provide technology skills training, along with connections to employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for young people across Vietnam.

The company said it will collaborate with VietNet-ICT to implement the Bac Ninh Province Training Roadshow on Basic Technology Skills and provide training to 1,200 young people.

“Vietnam is an important emerging market for Microsoft in Southeast Asia with great growth potential. With its large, young, highly-mobile and socially-engaged population, we believe that the country is poised to fully leverage the power of technology to grow and compete on a global stage. We are making this commitment to empower Vietnam’s digital generation to transform the future and further develop its economy under our YouthSpark programme,” said César Cernuda, President of Microsoft for the Asia Pacific region.

In rolling out its YouthSpark investments, Microsoft will be partnering with local Non-Governmental Organisations, including the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and VietNet Information Technology and Communication Center (VietNet-ICT) and the Kenan Institute Asia.

Microsoft will localise its Virtual Academy Learn to Code Videos into Vietnamese and introduce a Coding Roadshow to Universities in Bac Ninh, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Graduate Internships at Microsoft Factory will also be offered to university students, the company says.