Themed ‘Innovation, from Here to Global’, Techfest Viet Nam 2018, the biggest annual event for the country’s startup community, is taking place at the Ariyana Convention and Exhibition Centre of the Furama Resort Danang from 29 November to 1 December.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (2nd, right) and Da Nang People's Committee Vice Chairman Dang Viet Dung (2nd, left) visiting an exhibition booth within the framework of the Techfest Viet Nam 2018

This year’s event attracts the participation of 100 domestic investors, the founder of 200 startup projects nationwide, a large number of foreign partners from such countries as Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea, plus representatives from the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) - the world’s largest start-up network.

In his remarks at the Techfest 2018’s opening ceremony on Thursday, Prime Minister (PM) Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that, in the coming time, a national innovative startup programme framework with a vision towards 2045 will be developed

In particular, the national government is strongly committed to protecting intellectual property rights and providing capital grants to domestic young startup founders to help them make their big ideas a reality .

The national government leader also highlighted the significance of start-up programmes in helping the country reach its target of each person earning 18,000 USD per year by 2045 when Viet Nam celebrates the 100^th anniversary of the Independence Day.

In addition, Mr Phuc underscored the importance of setting up a complete connected startup ecosystem to attract even more qualified human resources from various aspects, and build a unified national start-up centre with its branches located in Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang.

The PM also took the opportunity to appeal for more young people to think big and take risks in turning their desires and dreams in business startups.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, along with representatives from national government agencies and the Da Nang authorities attending the Techfest Viet Nam 2018’s opening ceremony

According to Da Nang People's Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho City, in an attempt to reach its main target of becoming a smart city, Da Nang has named creative and innovative startup as one of its economic development priorities.

In addition to developing startup training network and publicity activities, the city has facilitated the commercialisation of research results so as to bring them to the market, and the connection of startup networks from both home and aboard.

He expressed his hope that Techfest 2018 will create a momentum for Da Nang to make even more outstanding strides on its journey to become a smart city in the near future.

According to Techfest Viet Nam 2018’s official website, on Thursday, the first day of the event featured Prime Minister's Dialogue with Startup Community with a focus on discussing various issues surrounding national policies promoting the development of the national startup ecosystem.

On the spotlight of the second day, 30 November, were high-level policy dialogue on regional startup ecosystem development, workshops on developing startups in agri-tech, ed-tech, med-tech, tourism, fin-tech, Industrial revolution 4.0, and impact technology.

Tomorrow, 1 December, the last day of the event will feature the Industrial Property Information for Startup Communities seminar, a talk about early-stage investment crunch and the Open Innovation Workshop.

In particular, the final round of the Innovative Technopreneur Contest 2018 will be held.

The winners will be awarded with either tickets to the Silicon Valley in the U.S. in May 2019 to represent Vietnam in the Startup World Cup, standing a chance to win up to 1 million US$ worth of investments, or tickets to South Korea to meet and match with global entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The annual Techfest Viet Nam, which began in 2015, has attracted 40 investment foundations creating 40 business incubator centres and 60 co-working spaces nationwide.

According to a latest report, Viet Nam has 3,000 innovative start-up businesses, and the figure is expected to climb to 5,000 by 2020.