A seminar was held in Da Nang on Thursday morning to discuss solutions for ensuring the effective organisation and operations of national startup support centres.

Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat (middle), Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang (left), and municipal People's Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh co-chair the Thursday seminar. Photo: HOANG HIEP

The event was co-chaired by Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat, Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang, and municipal People's Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh.

Addressing the opening of the event, Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat expressed his impression on the rapid establishment and growth of Viet Nam's innovative startup ecosystem in recent years.

He, however, stressed the need for the ecosystem to be perfected in the future in order to create the most favourable conditions for creative and innovative startups to form and develop.

In addition to legal corridors and support policies, Viet Nam's innovation startup ecosystem needs innovation startup support centres as the nucleus to mobilise, exploit, link and optimise resources in the ecosystems locally and centrally, and from the private sector and abroad, he added.

Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat speaking at the seminar. Photo: HOANG HIEP

On February 9, 2021, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Science and Technology to be the focal point for establishing three innovation start-up support centres in Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.

Till date many innovative start-up support units have been formed across the country in the private and public sectors, and even in international organisations under many very diverse models.

In particular, centres to support innovative startup ecosystems have been set up in 20 localities nationwide, whilst nearly 100 incubators and business promotion organisations have been operating nationwide. Many international innovation start-up centres have opened their branches or innovation spaces throughout the country.

Minister Dat also voiced his belief that the operational scale and efficiency of Viet Nam's national innovation startup ecosystem will be increasingly expanded and enhanced in the years ahead, thereby attracting more domestic and foreign resources and making more practical contributions to the country's socio-economic development goals.

He hoped that discussions at the seminar would focus on the current situation, solutions and directions for the establishment and development of a system of innovative start-up centres nationwide, especially on legal corridors, appropriate support policies and programmes, coordination mechanisms, and roles and legal status of centres at the central and local levels. This will help the Ministry of Science and Technology perfect institutions and policies, along with the direction of overall unification of the system of innovative start-up support centres, for the sake of creating overall strength for this ecosystem.

Chairman of the Da Nang People's Committee Le Trung Chinh delivers his speech at the event. Photo: CHIEN THANG

In his remarks at the seminar, Da Nang People’s Committee Chairman Le Trung Chinh highlighted the importance of the event in shaping the operations of innovation start-up support centres throughout the country.

He revealed that Da Nang has established the Innovative Startup Support Centre under the Department of Science and Technology. At the same time, the National Innovation Startup Support Centre has been established in Da Nang, aiming to support and develop the startup ecosystem of the city in particular and the Central Viet Nam and Central Highlands regions in general, hereby connecting with the national and international ecosystem.

In addition to the Innovation Startup Support Centre, the city is now home to two startup centres at universities, 9 incubators, 4 innovation spaces, 9 co-working spaces, 4 startup investment funds and startup clubs at universities and colleges, along with the innovative startup business community.

In general, the city's innovative startup ecosystem is increasingly developing, basically full of elements with the main pillars being State agencies, research institutes, universities, support organisations, the business community and related entities.

The city's innovative start-up activities have recorded a number of positive results and gone deep. Technical facilities serving innovative startups are gradually invested and completed. The innovative startup business community is constantly increasing in quantity and quality in recent years, in which a number of innovative startups have attracted investment capital from domestic and international investment funds.

Delegates at the seminar. Photo: CHIEN THANG

Thanks to the aforementioned positive results, Da Nang twice received the Viet Nam Smart City Award in 2020 and 2022 from the Vietnam Software and Information Technology Services Association (VINASA). This is an important award to recognise the city’s contributions to the national innovative startup ecosystem.

Chairman Chinh expressed his expectation that during the seminar, experts will propose solutions and operating models of innovation startup support centres, thereby significantly contributing to the development of the national innovative startup ecosystem in the city in particular, and in the country as the whole.

Reporting by HOANG HIEP, CHIEN THANG - Translating by M.DUNG