Innovative startup activities in Da Nang are growing stronger and stronger, attracting many projects, domestic and foreign enterprises, as well as the international investment community. This contributes to the goal of Da Nang becoming an ecological, smart city and a regional startup centre in Asia by 2045.

Four memorandums of understanding were signed at SURF 2024 to promote the development of the Da Nang innovative startup ecosystem. Photo: THIEN AN

Highly attractive city for innovative startups

In December 2024, Da Nang was honoured for the fourth consecutive time by the Viet Nam Software and Information Technology Services Association (VINASA) in the category of ‘Attractive City for Innovation and Startups’ within the framework of the Viet Nam Smart City Award 2024.

Deputy Director of the Da Nang Centre for Supporting Innovative Startups under the Da Nang Department of Science and Technology) Vo Duc Anh said that the honour reflected Da Nang's continuous efforts in developing an innovative startup ecosystem, creating a solid foundation for the city's socio-economic development in the future.

Every year, the city organizes the Da Nang Innovation Startup Festival (SURF), a place for the startup community to meet and connect with domestic and foreign investors and partners. Notably, 2024 was the first year the city organised the Da Nang Venture and Angel Forum (DAVAS).

The event attracted 40 domestic and foreign experts and speakers from the United States, South Korea and Singapore. There were 30 projects participating in calling for capital and connecting 1:1 with investors and investment funds, of which 19 were from Da Nang. Also, 10 memorandums of understanding were signed at the event.

“Through DAVAS 2024, innovative startup projects and businesses had the opportunity to approach domestic and foreign investors, venture capital funds and angels. At the same time, it helped projects evaluate whether their capacity, solutions and products meet the needs of investment funds, and created an environment for projects to improve their ability to pitch to investors while fundraising. This is very important for projects in the development stage or needing resources to expand," Mr. Anh added.

Expanding startup opportunities for young people and women

According to the Da Nang Centre for Supporting Innovative Startups, in December 2024, the ‘Innovative Startup Festival’ was held for the first time in Hoa Vang District, attracting more than 500 Youth Union members, young people and students.

The festival featured many activities, notably the exhibition space for 15 startup and innovation products, and highly-awarded scientific research topics of students in the city. Secretary of the Da Nang Youth Union Le Cong Hung said that the ‘Innovative Startup Festival’ has been organised by the Da Nang Youth Union in coordination with the Da Nang Department of Science and Technology since 2020 to promote the innovative startup movement among Youth Union members and young people.

In the coming time, the Da Nang Youth Union will continue to organise career training courses, help young people start sustainable businesses, and connect with businesses to support young people in the process of developing startup projects from ideas to actual implementation.

Vice President of the Da Nang Women’s Union Nguyen Thi Huyen said that activities under the project ‘Supporting women in starting businesses for the 2017 - 2025 period’ (abbreviated as Project 939) have been actively implemented by the Women's Union chapters at all levels.

In 2024, there were a series of successfully-organized events creating conditions for women to introduce and promote their products to customers. Notable was the festival ‘Da Nang Women - Digital transformation, creative startups, green actions’ in 2024 with a series of practical activities such as ‘Women's startup idea’ contest, ‘Livestream sales’ contest with OCOP (One Commune - One Product), typical rural industrial products and environmentally friendly items made from natural origin, the programe ‘Connecting female entrepreneurs - female traders - female startups of Da Nang and the neighbouring provinces of Hue and Quang Nam.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen, in order to create conditions for women to access capital to start a business, in 2024, her agency coordinated with the Da Nang Branch of Viet Nam Social Policy Bank to provide loans to 7,586 households from the job creation capital source with a total amount of more than VND 508 billion. After nearly 7 years of implementing Project 939, the Da Nang Women’s Union has assisted more than 1,000 business and startup ideas, and 1,143 women have been financially supported to start businesses and startups.

On December 22, 2024, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation. As suggested by Mr. Vo Duc Anh, in an effort to effectively implement this resolution, the city needs to strengthen the connection between related parties in the startup ecosystem. Typically, events such as SURF, DAVAS or startup training programmes should be organised regularly to boost connections among parties in the ecosystem and attract international investment funds.

In addition, it is a must-do to build a Da Nang innovation space, promote training and improve skills of entrepreneurs, especially implementing innovative startup programmes at educational institutions, regular training and education programmes at home and abroad on state management in innovation activities.

Universities in Da Nang are also encouraged to organise many startup competitions to create opportunities for students to access startup projects, thereby developing their creative, research and startup skills in a real environment.

Along with that, the city should promote and enhance multilateral diplomacy in the fields of science, technology and innovation, especially connecting and joining innovation networks at the world's leading innovation centres such as Singapore, South Korea, Australia, China, the United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Reporting by THIEN AN - Translating by A.THU