Government lays groundwork for start-up ecosystem

The Prime Minister has approved a project to develop the national ecosystem for start-ups by 2025 in an effort to fuel a start-up boom.

This was part of initial efforts by the government to boost the development of the start-up community as the country was seeking to become a start-up nation amidst its rapid integration into the global economy.

A start-up is a type of enterprise that can scale quickly, based on intellectual property, technology and an innovative business model.

Developing a supportive ecosystem is critical for the growth of start-up firms, the Ministry of Science and Technology had said previously.

An office with a relax room for employees to hang out. Source: cnet.com

Under the project to develop a start-up ecosystem, the government plans to complete the legal system for start-ups and develop a national e-portal by 2020. In addition, support will be provided for 800 projects and another 200 start-up firms, 50 of which are expected to raise seed funding from venture-capital investors or get involved in merger and acquisition (M&A) deals, worth an estimated VND 1 trillion (USD 44.6 million).

By 2025, the project aims to aid 2,000 start-up projects and another 600 start-up firms, 100 of which are expected to receive venture capital or get involved in M&A deals, worth VND 2 trillion.

Subjects earmarked to receive support include individuals or groups with start-up projects or firms with a high possibility of growing quickly, having been in operation for less than five years from the date of the business registry certificate, and organisations that provide incubation services to start-ups.

Three major goals of the project involve developing start-up incubation zones, enhancing the capacity of start-ups and developing the technical infrastructure for start-ups.

In addition, a national e-portal for start-ups will be built to provide information on technologies, inventions, standards, intellectual property rights and new business models, as well as policies, investments, incubation services and support systems.

Further, incubation activities will be promoted at ministries, in sectors and in localities with potential for the development of start-ups through the establishment of zones with free Internet and a supportive IT infrastructure.

Work on the Vietnam Silicon Valley project, launched in 2013 and sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology, will continue as part of Vietnam's commitment to building a dynamic, advanced start-up ecosystem.

Support for training will also be provided to enhance the capacity of start-ups, while completing the technical infrastructure and adding incentives for loan interest rates and tax and investment policies.

A circular on venture capital funding is also being drafted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment to improve the legal framework for promoting start-ups and to make Vietnam a start-up nation.

At a dialogue between the Prime Minister and the business community at the end of April, the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises proposed the establishment of a national steering committee for start-ups.

A survey by the Amway Corporation in collaboration with German university Technische Universitat Munchen (TUM) and market research company Gesellschaft fuer Konsumforschung (GfK) last year also found that Vietnam had a high entrepreneurial spirit, ranking 7th among the 44 surveyed countries.

However, the percentage of the population who started businesses was low, with only 2.4 percent compared to the world average of 12 percent, Nguyen Dac Vinh, Party central committee member, First Secretary of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, said while answering questions from Vietnamese youth in an online dialogue in March.