At the series of events on beefing up connections for the sake of the development of the science and technology market in 2023 recently organised by the Innovation and Startup Support Centre under the Da Nang Department of Science and Technology, businesspeople exchanged their development experiences in the field of green technology, as well as solutions for more effective combination between technology and knowledge transfer so as to promote innovation and creativity.

Illustrative image (Photo:DNO)

Increasing the application of green technology

Mr. Nguyen Viet Toan, the Director of the Innovation Startup Support Centre, said that an indispensable element to develop the science and technology market is organisations and individuals’ wishing to buy goods. Currently, there are about 37,000 businesses and branches and representative offices operating in the city with a total registered capital of more than VND242,000 billion, nine of which are managed by the municipal People's Committee. This is the city's main source of technology demand.

In general, the need for innovation in information technology is much higher than in other fields. However, other production fields such as mechanics, automation, seafood processing and agriculture also have a great desire to apply advanced technology to improve production efficiency.

In order to support businesses, the centre has set up the Techmart Online Da Nang technology exchange platform. This is a tool to support businesses to introduce their technology businesses and products on the internet, a place to provide technology information and equipment, as well as boost tech supply and demand connections.

Mr. Tran Anh Dong, the Director of Control and Automation Solutions Co., Ltd., in the Hoa Cam Industrial Park, Cam Le District, Da Nang assessed that the development in the direction of technology and circular economy is very suitable for Da Nang’s target of becoming a green, liveable city. The application of urban greening will help the city make more development strides in the direction of high-tech agriculture, urban agriculture, and eco-tourism, in line with the city's development orientations.

“The potential for growth in this area is huge and startups can easily develop products in the direction of a circular economy from food to technology solutions. We are applying the model into hotels, buildings, and schools in a bid to realise the goal of treating organic waste, gray water and collecting rainwater to serve trees, helping buildings make passive and sustainable cooling", said Mr. Dong.

At the seminar, businesses expressed their interest in changing technologies, however, the biggest difficulty right now is funding. In addition, many small and medium-sized enterprises produce scatteredly and they are not located in industrial parks and economic zones so they donot have a uniform waste treatment orientation in accordance with current circular economy criteria.

Under innovation startup ecosystem support in the city until 2025, over recent years in the city, over 70 enterprises have received support for technological innovation with a cost of VNDnearly 8 billion in total. In the 2020 - 2022 period, the city directly supported 22 projects, innovative startups and incubators with a total budget of VND3.94 billion.

Supporting businesses to borrow capital, transfer and innovate technology

According to the Da Nang Department of Science and Technology, the transfer of technology and knowledge is one of the important factors contributing to economic development and improving competitiveness and innovation in enterprises.

The Department always supports businesses to create real values for the icommunity through the transfer of technology and knowledge. In particular, heed is paid to supporting and creating favourable conditions for units in the transfer of technology and knowledge and building an appropriate environment for businesses to access, apply and develop advanced technologies.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Toan, the Director of the Innovation Startup Support Centre, said that many businesses in the city are supported in terms of innovation, connection and technology transfer through the city's policies.

As regard to the demand and accessibility for imported technologies for production and business, a number of Da Nang enterprises have partnered with other companies in foreign markets such as South Korea and Japan in the procession of intellectual products and the development of technological human resources.

Regarding loans for small and medium-sized enterprises, Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hang, the representative of the National Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Development Fund, said that, to be eligible for a loan, it is necessary for these enterprises to have a feasible projects, production and business plans, the exploitation of intellectual property, new technologies or business models.

In addition, they must ensure that the equity capital to participate in projects, production and business plans makes up for at least 20% of the total investment capital for project implementation. It is known that the fund has signed indirect loan framework contracts with a number of banks to support businesses.

Reporting by MAI QUE, VAN HOANG – Translating by A.THU