Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc speaks at the award ceremony - Photo: TRI DUC
On the evening of July 1, the 4th Ho Chi Minh City Innovation Awards 2025 ceremony honored 51 outstanding works, solutions, and topics in 7 key development areas of the city.
This is a prestigious award presented by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to recognize and encourage individuals and groups with initiatives that make practical contributions to the comprehensive development of this special city.
Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Phuoc Loc (5th from left) presented awards to the winning authors in the field of literature and arts - Photo: TRI DUC
Musician Nguyen Van Chung received third prize in the field of literature and art with the song " Writing the next story of peace" - Photo: TRI DUC
In 2025, the program "Pho Day 12-12" of Tuoi Tre newspaper won the Ho Chi Minh City Creativity Award.
Since 2017, the event initiated by Tuoi Tre newspaper has opened a special journey to honor, promote and bring Vietnamese pho to the world .
Journalist Vo Hung Thuat - Director of the Tuoi Tre Newspaper Media Service Center - said that organizing a separate festival for pho was creative, and at the same time demonstrated a sense of responsibility in preserving and promoting the national spirit and quintessence of the nation.
The program is built as a series of rich annual activities, from festivals, seminars, pho cooking artisan exchanges to exhibitions, writing contests, storytelling contests, voting for favorite pho brands and volunteer activities.
Many free bowls of pho have been given to students in remote areas, the poor, doctors and nurses fighting the epidemic, and nearly 1,000 scholarships have been awarded to students overcoming difficulties...
December 12 was officially chosen as "Vietnamese Pho Day" with its own identifying symbol including the phrase "Pho Day", the image of a rice plant, pho noodles, chopsticks and a porcelain bowl, all originating from rice grains, the soul of pho.
With the program "Pho Day 12-12", Tuoi Tre newspaper received first prize at the 4th Ho Chi Minh City Creativity Award 2025 in the field of communication - Photo: TRI DUC
From 2023, the program will begin to be "exported" to the world, through Vietnam Pho Festival events in Japan and Korea, attracting thousands of attendees and creating a strong media effect.
The program's influence does not stop at the festival event but also in the actual impact on the community and economy . Many local pho chefs and pho restaurants have become more widely known, increasing revenue and brand.
At the same time, this is also an opportunity to promote agricultural products, especially Vietnamese rice, as pho noodles become a potential export item.
During the 9 years of organization, the program "Pho Day 12-12" has always been carried out methodically and transparently with guidance from central and local agencies.
This series of events promises to continue to expand in scale, becoming one of the key national cultural and culinary events, bringing pho and with it the image of Vietnam closer to the world.
A program of Pho Day - Photo: TTO
Creativity for the development of Ho Chi Minh City
In 2025, the Ho Chi Minh City Innovation Award received 292 projects and works. Through many rigorous screening rounds, the city-level selection council carefully selected, invited leading experts to evaluate and solicited public opinion in the press to ensure objectivity.
Of the 51 awarded works, there were 4 first prizes with the highest prize value of 200 million VND.
A highlight of this year's season is the improvement in the selection criteria, helping to improve the quality of applications and encourage creative ideas with high applicability.
In addition, the award ceremony took place on the evening of July 1, 2025 at Nguyen Hue walking street, as a prominent cultural activity in a series of events celebrating the city's official operation of a two-tier government model.
Speaking at the award ceremony, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc said that the Ho Chi Minh City Innovation Award continues to affirm its important role in promoting innovation, encouraging the spirit of dedication and improvement for a modern, compassionate and sustainably developing Ho Chi Minh City.
"The projects that won the Ho Chi Minh City Innovation Award 2025 are a testament to the aspirations to contribute and serve the development of Ho Chi Minh City. The products and projects that have been applied in practice contribute to spreading the spirit of innovation in Ho Chi Minh City," said Mr. Duoc.
The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also officially launched the 5th Ho Chi Minh City Innovation Award in 2028, in the context that the city is entering a new development stage after the merger, expanding urban space and strongly transforming towards modernity and sustainability.
In particular, he set out a specific topic, which is to strive to bring Ho Chi Minh City into the top 100 most livable cities in the world, calling on individuals, organizations, scientists, and businesses to contribute creative works and projects to achieve this goal.
The project "Application of information technology and electronic data in detecting, investigating and handling violations and negative acts in the field of vehicle inspection" won first prize in the field of national defense and security - Photo: TRI DUC
Ho Chi Minh City River Festival won first prize in the economic development sector of the 4th Ho Chi Minh City Innovation Awards 2025 - Photo: TRI DUC
The play "Comrade" won first prize in the field of literature and art - Photo: TRI DUC
4 first prizes of Ho Chi Minh City Innovation Award 2025
- First prize in the field of economic development: Ho Chi Minh City River Festival (Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism).
- First prize in the field of national defense and security: Application of information technology and electronic data in detecting, investigating and handling violations and negative acts in the field of vehicle inspection (Major, Master Dang Van Thang; Major, Master Nguyen Huynh Duc; Major Tran Tuan Vu; Senior Lieutenant Pham Thanh Tai; Captain Nguyen Xuan Sang).
- First prize in the media field: Pho Day program 12-12 ( Tuoi Tre newspaper).
- First prize in the field of literature and art: Play Comrade (Ho Chi Minh City Theater Association).
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ngay-cua-pho-gianh-giai-thuong-sang-tao-tp-hcm-2025-20250701212516095.htm
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