Finnish University Partners with Nepali Colleges to Initiate Project for Job Creation

August 18: Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Finland, announced the launch of a new project, “Building University Capacity to Support Business Incubation in Nepal”(BUCSBIN) on Thursday, August 17. The goal of the project is to build capacity of higher educational institutions in Nepal to better facilitate job creation by incubating student-led ventures, reads a press statement issued by King’s College, a partner in the joint venture.

The project will help promote employment, livelihoods and wellbeing in Nepal, which is a priority area of development for the country under the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Two academic institutes – King’s College and KUSOM – along with two business partners, Young Innovations Pvt Ltd and Idea Studio Nepal, will work jointly to implement this three-year project that will end in mid-2020.

A memorandum of understanding towards this effect was siAnchorgned by the concerned parties amid a ceremony in Kathmandu on Thursday.This was done in combination with the Slush 2017 Global Impact Accelerator pitching competition where 15 start-ups from various sectors pitched their venture to compete for their entry for the Slush 2017 Global Impact Accelerator, which will be held in Helsinki, Finland in November/December, 2017. Three winning start-ups – Doko Recyclers Pvt Ltd, Muskan Brining Back Smiles Pvt Ltd and Tootle—are nominated for the Slush 2017 Global Impact Accelerator.

Oulu University of Applied Sciences says that the project is being introduced and launched in Nepal in response to the increasing involvement of universities in promoting and strengthening the inter-disciplinary teaching methods and practices and applied activities of business incubation.

The objective of this project is to increase university capacity in Nepal for developing entrepreneurship education and business incubation programming.

The overall goal of the cooperation is to share knowledge and experience gained through the success of the innovative and award-winning incubator programs – Oamk LABs – established in 2012 at the Oulu University of Applied Sciences.