I am preparing my statement of purpose for the Erasmus Mundus (EMM) GLOCAL - Track C in Sustainable Business Development. This is my 1st time drafting an essay for EMM, hence, I would like to seek your review and inputs, especially the logic flaws and whether the connection and motivation are clear enough.
Statement of Purpose
Growing up in Ca Mau, a coastal province in Vietnam facing an extreme relative sea-level rise of 4 cm per year - ten times global level, I witnessed firsthand the dual impact of climate change and provincial land subsidence caused by aggressive groundwater pumping for industrial sectors, day-by-day submerging my residents' housing and assets. Its struggle against extractive industries deeply shaped my motivation in shifting the private sector toward more sustainable practices. Hence, I am applying for the Erasmus Mundus Master Global Markets, Local Creativities (GLOCAL), Track C - Sustainable Business Development to become a transformation consultant helping firms drive growth without social and ecological compromise.
My journey began with the high-school research on psychological effects of Facebook in Vietnam, signaling how the globalized economy elevates firm's development impacts on emerging countries. My undergraduate studies in International Business Economics further deepened the understanding of international trade and investment shaping strategic choices. A pivotal moment in academic trajectory was my publication on Vietnam's service exports to EU, proving that factors driving company's behaviors in the global market extend far beyond bilateral trade. Here, I uncovered the intersection of economic, environmental and institutional forces which drive firm-level innovations, collectively enhancing national productivity, creativity and global value chain integration. Thus, I was eager to explore institutional establishments to encourage private sector participation in sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Specifically, when facilitating La Gan, an offshore wind project at the Embassy of Denmark in Vietnam, I gained practical insights on offering regulatory, financing and taxation advice to leverage a Danish client's expertise in Vietnam's renewable energy transition. By evaluating wind capacity, power grid connection and provincial governance, I honed my research and communication skills to recommend strategic installation locations. I acknowledged the crucial role of investment policies in channeling global capital into in-need sectors, by connecting the firm's unique capabilities and local challenges. I am deeply committed to advising companies policies and practices that profitably create ESG benefits.
To enrich my horizon in the contemporary development of sustainable firms, I attended Vietnam School of Development where I practiced policy analysis by examining plastic taxation adopted from developed markets. Through the lens of supply - demand, I revealed the upstream impact of rearranging supply chain and downstream effects of shifting taxes to retail price, reducing economic welfare. This experience proved that any policies neglecting local capacity will hinder both sustainability and business continuity.
Therefore, I delved further into the private sector to grasp the insider view of building sustainable businesses. During a technical cooperation program hosted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, I was in the top 3% nominated industry practitioners to join and facilitate a locally sourced, small women-owned sake business. After assessing import duties from free trade agreements (FTAs) and Vietnam's beer-dominated market, its rice wine's history and local appetite, I advised pivoting sake exports, which successfully entered US, Canada, Germany. The program marked SMEs as gatekeepers in protecting traditional heritage and stimulating local supply chain against global industrialization, which opens up new avenues of utilizing SMEs creativity and proactiveness for capacity building towards sustainability issues.
Moreover, entrepreneurs should center local challenges at the core of product development. Being a Corporate Strategy Executive at Topica Edtech Group, I broadened my view on the use of learning technologies adapted from regional edtech models to launch affordable courses for the underserved students. By estimating and presenting how learning hours spent on the platform increase user lifetime value to investors, I increased its valuation to secure Series-A funding. These projects solidified my belief that building sustainable firms is not just about transformation but incorporating social impacts into their business continuity. I specifically advocate for institutional initiatives that embrace firm's proactiveness, innovations and SDGs commitment, in addressing local challenges intensified by globalization.
Recently, when redesigning SME lending at United Overseas Bank, I found that SMEs and start-ups are the most vulnerable entities in globalization. First, given the export-led growth model of emerging economies heavily relying on FDI, these firms are often constrained by FDI extractive industries or spatial inequality of public investment to attract FDI projects. Second, the financial system is designed to serve FDI enterprises which give little focus to small-sized firms. Third, having supported numerous SMEs, I contend the limitation of case-by-case approach is insufficient for a systematic transition. It is vital to tackle such paradoxes simultaneously to build more sustainable firms, by offering favorable financing policies to SMEs and start-ups requiring sustainable practices that motivate them to proactively acquire capabilities and innovations against development challenges, fostering resilient, inclusive, multi-dimensional growth.
While I have developed expertise in financing facilities, I lack profound knowledge on the policymaking framework required for widespread sustainability adoption in the Global South. The GLOCAL program's multi-perspectival approach and place-based views on sustainable firms will fill this gap. I seek to understand multilateral dynamics, local uniqueness and geopolitical regions' influence on the private sector, discussed in Mobility 1 via "The Globalised Economy" and "Globalisation: Critical Perspectives from the Global South". I am passionate about initiatives building entrepreneurial capabilities in Mobility 2, such as start-up networks in "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems" and the design of enabling environments in "Creative Cities: Intervention Models and Entrepreneurial Dynamics". Mobility 3 will cultivate an empirical view on sustainability issues faced by SMEs and start-ups in emerging economies via "Sustainability Issues in Latin America", plus the history of entrepreneurial choices and implications in "Entrepreneurship and Capitalism in Latin America" which I can adapt to Vietnam. My proposed thesis of "Sustainability transition: a comparative analysis of Colombia and Vietnam's interventions on small and medium enterprises" will culminate Track C's place-based experience on Colombian bottom-up frameworks valuing SMEs' creativities as main transitional engine, which complements Vietnam's top-down governance.
After the program, I plan to become a consultant at the European Investment Bank (EIB), executing the Greening Financial Systems (GFS) programme in Vietnam and Asia thanks to EIB's recent partnership with Vietnam's central bank for GFS implementation. I will advise policies and technical assistance to local financial institutions on facilities helping SMEs' and start-ups build their sustainability capacity. Ultimately, I aim to build and socialize a risk rating guideline for a company's self-assessment on major local challenges and their readiness. In addition, by publishing white papers and hosting regional dialogues on global issues and sustainable financing initiatives specific to SMEs, I will foster EU - Asian knowledge exchange, collaboration and advocacy.
Enrolling in the GLOCAL program, its mobilities will enrich my learning experience and cross-cultural explorations to understand European's priorities and establishments towards SDGs, which are beneficial to my future role as an EIB consultant and a focal point in bridging the gaps of global expertise - local specifications, East - West collaborations for SMEs and start-ups' ecosystem in Asian region.
Statement of Purpose
Growing up in Ca Mau, a coastal province in Vietnam facing an extreme relative sea-level rise of 4 cm per year - ten times global level, I witnessed firsthand the dual impact of climate change and provincial land subsidence caused by aggressive groundwater pumping for industrial sectors, day-by-day submerging my residents' housing and assets. Its struggle against extractive industries deeply shaped my motivation in shifting the private sector toward more sustainable practices. Hence, I am applying for the Erasmus Mundus Master Global Markets, Local Creativities (GLOCAL), Track C - Sustainable Business Development to become a transformation consultant helping firms drive growth without social and ecological compromise.
My journey began with the high-school research on psychological effects of Facebook in Vietnam, signaling how the globalized economy elevates firm's development impacts on emerging countries. My undergraduate studies in International Business Economics further deepened the understanding of international trade and investment shaping strategic choices. A pivotal moment in academic trajectory was my publication on Vietnam's service exports to EU, proving that factors driving company's behaviors in the global market extend far beyond bilateral trade. Here, I uncovered the intersection of economic, environmental and institutional forces which drive firm-level innovations, collectively enhancing national productivity, creativity and global value chain integration. Thus, I was eager to explore institutional establishments to encourage private sector participation in sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Specifically, when facilitating La Gan, an offshore wind project at the Embassy of Denmark in Vietnam, I gained practical insights on offering regulatory, financing and taxation advice to leverage a Danish client's expertise in Vietnam's renewable energy transition. By evaluating wind capacity, power grid connection and provincial governance, I honed my research and communication skills to recommend strategic installation locations. I acknowledged the crucial role of investment policies in channeling global capital into in-need sectors, by connecting the firm's unique capabilities and local challenges. I am deeply committed to advising companies policies and practices that profitably create ESG benefits.
To enrich my horizon in the contemporary development of sustainable firms, I attended Vietnam School of Development where I practiced policy analysis by examining plastic taxation adopted from developed markets. Through the lens of supply - demand, I revealed the upstream impact of rearranging supply chain and downstream effects of shifting taxes to retail price, reducing economic welfare. This experience proved that any policies neglecting local capacity will hinder both sustainability and business continuity.
Therefore, I delved further into the private sector to grasp the insider view of building sustainable businesses. During a technical cooperation program hosted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, I was in the top 3% nominated industry practitioners to join and facilitate a locally sourced, small women-owned sake business. After assessing import duties from free trade agreements (FTAs) and Vietnam's beer-dominated market, its rice wine's history and local appetite, I advised pivoting sake exports, which successfully entered US, Canada, Germany. The program marked SMEs as gatekeepers in protecting traditional heritage and stimulating local supply chain against global industrialization, which opens up new avenues of utilizing SMEs creativity and proactiveness for capacity building towards sustainability issues.
Moreover, entrepreneurs should center local challenges at the core of product development. Being a Corporate Strategy Executive at Topica Edtech Group, I broadened my view on the use of learning technologies adapted from regional edtech models to launch affordable courses for the underserved students. By estimating and presenting how learning hours spent on the platform increase user lifetime value to investors, I increased its valuation to secure Series-A funding. These projects solidified my belief that building sustainable firms is not just about transformation but incorporating social impacts into their business continuity. I specifically advocate for institutional initiatives that embrace firm's proactiveness, innovations and SDGs commitment, in addressing local challenges intensified by globalization.
Recently, when redesigning SME lending at United Overseas Bank, I found that SMEs and start-ups are the most vulnerable entities in globalization. First, given the export-led growth model of emerging economies heavily relying on FDI, these firms are often constrained by FDI extractive industries or spatial inequality of public investment to attract FDI projects. Second, the financial system is designed to serve FDI enterprises which give little focus to small-sized firms. Third, having supported numerous SMEs, I contend the limitation of case-by-case approach is insufficient for a systematic transition. It is vital to tackle such paradoxes simultaneously to build more sustainable firms, by offering favorable financing policies to SMEs and start-ups requiring sustainable practices that motivate them to proactively acquire capabilities and innovations against development challenges, fostering resilient, inclusive, multi-dimensional growth.
While I have developed expertise in financing facilities, I lack profound knowledge on the policymaking framework required for widespread sustainability adoption in the Global South. The GLOCAL program's multi-perspectival approach and place-based views on sustainable firms will fill this gap. I seek to understand multilateral dynamics, local uniqueness and geopolitical regions' influence on the private sector, discussed in Mobility 1 via "The Globalised Economy" and "Globalisation: Critical Perspectives from the Global South". I am passionate about initiatives building entrepreneurial capabilities in Mobility 2, such as start-up networks in "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems" and the design of enabling environments in "Creative Cities: Intervention Models and Entrepreneurial Dynamics". Mobility 3 will cultivate an empirical view on sustainability issues faced by SMEs and start-ups in emerging economies via "Sustainability Issues in Latin America", plus the history of entrepreneurial choices and implications in "Entrepreneurship and Capitalism in Latin America" which I can adapt to Vietnam. My proposed thesis of "Sustainability transition: a comparative analysis of Colombia and Vietnam's interventions on small and medium enterprises" will culminate Track C's place-based experience on Colombian bottom-up frameworks valuing SMEs' creativities as main transitional engine, which complements Vietnam's top-down governance.
After the program, I plan to become a consultant at the European Investment Bank (EIB), executing the Greening Financial Systems (GFS) programme in Vietnam and Asia thanks to EIB's recent partnership with Vietnam's central bank for GFS implementation. I will advise policies and technical assistance to local financial institutions on facilities helping SMEs' and start-ups build their sustainability capacity. Ultimately, I aim to build and socialize a risk rating guideline for a company's self-assessment on major local challenges and their readiness. In addition, by publishing white papers and hosting regional dialogues on global issues and sustainable financing initiatives specific to SMEs, I will foster EU - Asian knowledge exchange, collaboration and advocacy.
Enrolling in the GLOCAL program, its mobilities will enrich my learning experience and cross-cultural explorations to understand European's priorities and establishments towards SDGs, which are beneficial to my future role as an EIB consultant and a focal point in bridging the gaps of global expertise - local specifications, East - West collaborations for SMEs and start-ups' ecosystem in Asian region.
