The Support to the Innovation and Development of Business Incubators Policy Project (BIPP), partly funded by the Belgian Government, has proved effective after nearly five years of implementation in Viet Nam.

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Reporting the main results of the project at a workshop in Hanoi on November 22, the project’s director Tran Dac Hien said that over the past four years, the BIPP has focused on science and technology enterprises and technology incubators, from popularising and analysing existing policies to building road maps for technological enterprise incubators for the 2015-2025 period.

It has helped pilot the operation of many incubator facilities, as well as a financial assistance mechanism for these facilities and their consumers.

To date, all set targets have been fulfilled, Hien affirmed. However, he pointed to several difficulties and challenges when supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises, including finance-related barriers and resource limitations.

Belgian Ambassador to Viet Nam Paul Jansen said that the BIPP has supported the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology in creating favourable conditions for the formation and development of technology enterprise incubator facilities.

Proposals for a policy framework, following the operation of the National Centre for Technological Progress-Technology Business Incubator Center (NTBIC) and the Ho Chi Minh University of Technology-Technology Business Incubation Centre (HCMUT-TBI), have contributed to building an innovative start-up ecosystem for the development of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Viet Nam, he added.

At the event, representatives from businesses, research institutes, universities, and colleges in the science and technology field discussed their visions for business incubator development, and shared experience in supplying infrastructure assistance and assistance services, and developing business and financial services to help incubator establishments develop sustainably.

Starting from 2014, the project had an initial investment of 4.4 million EUR (50.23 million USD), of which Belgium contributed 4 million EUR. However, from 2016, with the budget adjustment from the Belgian Government, the amount was cut down to 2 million EUR to 2018.

(Source: VNA/ DA NANG Today)