The Da Nang authorities have been promoting local start-up activities in order to develop Da Nang into a start-up city in the near future.  Most notably, the municipal Coordination Council for Business Start-up Network has successfully organised numerous start-up business activities across the city since it was established in December 2015. 

Young IT engineers at a local start-up company

In a similar vein, the city’s Business Incubators Centre, which operates under the name of the Da Nang Start-up Support and Investment Company Ltd, was officially opened in January this year, and has an initial charter capital of around 30 billion VND.  This centre plays a vital role in bringing projects with great development potential to fruition, and promoting research and innovation activities amongst students of universities, junior colleges and vocational schools in Da Nang, and in Viet Nam as a whole.

Since the start of this year, the city’s business start-up environment has attracted a great deal of attention from businesses, organisations, and universities at home and abroad.

The Director of the city’s Research Institute for Socio-Economic Development, Mr Nguyen Phu Thai, remarked that local start-up businesses have benefited from the city’s preferential policies.  They have been able to access loans from local funds at low interest rates, and have been provided with information consultancy services. 

With regard to businesses premises, many land areas at recently-established industrial parks, and those under construction, will be earmarked for local start-up businesses.

Vice Rector of the Duy Tan University Vo Thanh Hai noted that the university’s students now find it very difficult to bring their start-up business activities to fruition due to a shortage of capital.  Nearly 20 billion VND from the city’s budget is usually granted to the municipal Department of Science and Technology to fund local scientific research activities every year, but only 200 million VND has been disbursed for a start-up project since the start of this year due to stiff disbursement mechanisms.  Mr Hai, therefore, proposed that the central and municipal governments should issue more effective policies to give more support to local start-ups in the years ahead.

The General Director of the BQ Shoe company, Mr Phan Hai, remarked that greater efforts should be made to develop Da Nang into a start-up city in the near future in order to attract more start-up investors and projects.  He also remarked that appeals should be made for more investment funds, and mentors who have expertise in start-up skills.  Special heed should be paid to fully tapping the city’s start-up development potentials and promoting the performance of the Coordination Council for Business Start-up Network to make Da Nang a more attractive destination for businesspeople, especially start-up entrepreneurs.