The Da Nang Business Incubators Centre has been making great efforts to help local start-ups to bring their business activities to fruition.

The Deputy CEO of the centre, Mr Ly Dinh Quan, highlighted the vital role of mentors who have expertise in the skills that start-up runners lack.  They can be either businesspeople or economic experts.  He said that the centre has established a network of successful start-up entrepreneurs across the country to increase the number of mentors. 

Mr Quan added that greater efforts are being made to appeal for more assistance from international organisations. 

Domestic and international experts in discussion at the Da Nang Start-up Conference

In particular, a training course on enhancing the capacities of start-up businesses will take place in the city soon.  The event is being co-organised by Microsoft Viet Nam, South East Asia's leading venture accelerator Expara, and Customer Loyalty and Acquisition Services Company (CLAS). 

The course will be a good opportunity for participants to learn about useful skills, digital technology, and how to run businesses, as well as help them meet with reputable mentors from both home and abroad.    

Deputy CEO Quan remarked, “This year, the centre will pay special attention to establishing a network of mentors to ensure that each start-up group will have access to 1 or 2 mentors”.  He said that the centre will organise ‘train to train’ programmes to train qualified mentors for the city. 

Mr Nguyen Xuan Bang, the founder of start-up company Gcall, said that the most difficult thing a start-up business faces is a lack of investment capital.  He noted that start-ups find it very hard to get bank loans because they tend not to have mortgaged property.

Ms Le Nguyen Hai Yen from the centre remarked that one of the most important principles about appealing for capital in start-up activities is to attract investors attracted by the projects.  She highlighted the importance of advertising start-up projects to investors. 

Therefore, the city’s Coordination Council for the Business Start-up Network has been organising numerous programmes to help start-ups advertise their projects to domestic and foreign investors.  Included are the Start-up Fair 2016, Start-up Weekend, and Start-up Runaway.

The city authorities have already launched the ‘Da Nang Start-up Development 2016’ programme, and have detailed their plans for relevant agencies, businesses and foundations. 

Since early this year, the municipal Department of Foreign Affairs has worked with the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, the American Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam, and some foreign embassies in Viet Nam, to introduce them to the city’s start-up programmes and appeal for financial aid.