Vietnam is bound to play a key role in the upcoming rise of Southeast Asian economies and the country aims to reform its economy by raising its competitiveness and productivity by training human resources, mobilising funding, improving technology infrastructure, and constructing a professional innovation centre.
Given the significant and promising socio-economic growth of Vietnam in recent years, Hanoi Innovation Summit (August 29-30) aims to build a bridge between global leaders and Southeast Asia’s blooming innovation ecosystem, eyeing innovating for inclusion and sustainability in emerging economies.
The event takes place at the National Convention Centre, organised by Schoolab, a France-based innovation organisation, under the auspices of the Hanoi People’s Committee and the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).
The summit welcomed over 3,000 delegates. On the side of Hanoi city is Hoang Trung Hai, Party Committee Secretary, Nguyen Duc Chung, chairman of the city People’s Committee, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, and embassies of several countries in Hanoi. Many giant technology companies also joined hands to support the startup ecosystem such as Vintech, Microsoft, and Samsung.
Minister Nguyen Chi Dung spoke at the summit that completing the startup ecosystem is one of the government’s top priorities at the moment. The MPI is in the process of urgently finalising its startup strategy by the end of this year. This is the basis for localities to develop their strengths and take advantage of the opportunities from Industry 4.0.
The MPI will continue to expand the network to connect with Vietnamese experts working overseas to return home and contribute to the nation’s development. The establishment of the first national startup centre in Hanoi will also offer a gathering place for experts as well as promote innovation activities throughout the country.
Minister Nguyen Chi Dung also committed to accompanying the Hanoi People’s Committee and startup projects to solve problems during the process of creative startup in Vietnam.
The summit focuses on six themes: smart city, consumer tech, life science, environment, mobility, and the future of work. The event will bring together more than 100 prominent speakers, 150 startups, 200 corporates, and over 3,000 visitors with the deep involvement of the central government and Hanoi authorities.
In the main discussion section, chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung asked experts on international creative startups about methods to better promote the development of starup projects in Hanoi and methods to effectively connect Hanoi’s startups with similar projects in the world.
In response to these questions, Caitlin Wiesen, resident representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Vietnam, said that Vietnam is having impressive growth as well as being very close to its sustainable development goals. Vietnam is also facing many challenges before the Fourth Industrial Revolution. To address these challenges, Vietnam needs to create an environment to support innovation, in which policies must focus on removing the difficulties of startups at the fastest pace.
On behalf of the Eurocham, vice chairman Nguyen Hai Minh lauded the innovative spirit of the Vietnamese government, thereby creating confidence for European investors, saying this all points to the capital market for startups in Vietnam being very promising and profitable.
However, the Vietnamese startup ecosystem is still new, he added, so many startup projects still lack experience about legal issues to connect with investment funds. Therefore, Vietnam needs new investor networks to provide more active support as well as impart experience for startup projects.
The Vietnamese government needs more specific activities when creating a platform for startups to connect directly with investors as well as offer tax incentives for startup investment, Hai Minh recommended.
