Building a sustainable startup ecosystem

From Singapore’s experience in innovation universities, the successful model in Sydney (Australia) to Japan’s ecosystem connection initiative… have suggested many models for Ho Chi Minh City to realize its goal of being in the group of 100 cities with the most dynamic innovation startup ecosystems in the world. By 2030, Ho Chi Minh City will form 5,000 innovative startups.

Many challenges ahead

Ho Chi Minh City's startup ecosystem is currently valued at 7.4 billion USD, attracting a total venture capital of up to 260 million USD, gathering nearly 50% of the country's startups and being the startup place of 3 technology unicorns: VNG , MoMo and Sky Mavis... The city is also in the global top 30 and top 2 in Southeast Asia for startups in the blockchain field, and is ranked 54th globally in financial technology (Fintech), 62nd in educational technology (Edtech), 71st in e-commerce and retail, and 87th in transportation.

Robots applying artificial intelligence - a startup project displayed at the opening event of SIHUB building in Ho Chi Minh City, August 23. Photo: TAN BA

According to the assessment of the Ho Chi Minh City Innovation and Technology Ecosystem by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology, the difficulties that startups will face in the next 1-3 years are lack of investment capital, legal barriers, lack of high-quality human resources, and especially market fluctuations, which are also major challenges. The number of startups in Ho Chi Minh City accounts for more than half of the country, but they have not yet accessed support sources even though the city has had many policies to support innovation and technology activities recently.

Ms. Dang Thi Luan, Acting Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Innovative Startups (SIHUB), said that Ho Chi Minh City has many support policies that have been announced, such as non-refundable grants of up to VND400 million for each project, tax exemptions and testing support... specified in resolutions. However, 69% of businesses said they have not received support from any policies, although 79% of respondents know at least 1-3 policies of the city.

According to a survey by the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City, the reasons why businesses have difficulty accessing support are lack of information about procedures (over 51%), difficulty meeting support conditions (over 31%), limited access to credit sources (30%), and also the reason of long application approval time and complicated procedures. Therefore, businesses in the Ho Chi Minh City's innovation ecosystem suggest that procedures should be simplified and support forms should be diversified.

With the above reality, SIHUB has made proposals to support the city's startup community, such as improving and developing both physical and technological infrastructure; having policies to attract diverse resources from society, including venture capital funds, large corporations and technology groups, and universities. At the same time, it is necessary to strongly implement international cooperation programs to train, incubate, connect and expand the market for startups... and develop innovation potential by building a Startup University model.

International experience for HCMC

Australia is home to more than 4,300 technology companies, creating 100,000 jobs and contributing about 42 billion AUD to the economy . It is also home to many world-famous technology unicorns such as Atlassian, Canva, Block, and 150 research institutes and centers of excellence in the fields of AI, biotechnology, energy and digital.

Startup activities are regularly held inside the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Creative Entrepreneurship.

“HCMC can learn from the experience of developing concentrated innovation clusters, organizing large-scale events to attract global resources, and implementing support policies similar to the Landing Pad program (Australia) to create conditions for international and domestic startups to expand cooperation,” said Mr. David Smith, Director of the Investment NSW Innovation Program (Australia’s largest innovation center).

Ms. Yufuko Takashima, General Director of Global Strategy of Mitsubishi Research Institute (MRI - Japan), said: MRI has implemented many cooperation activities in Vietnam, including investment seminars, startup acceleration programs... MRI identifies Vietnam as one of the emerging markets with rapid economic growth and high development potential. To promote sustainable growth, Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam need to build a regional cooperation network, invest in pioneering technology fields such as AI, smart cities, green technology...

According to Mr. Tran Trong Tuyen, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City, with the role of the leading economic, educational and innovation center in the country, Ho Chi Minh City is witnessing the vibrant development of science and technology activities with clear goals. Linking and cooperating with prestigious international organizations and learning from successful models in other countries are among the options to realize the goals of developing a sustainable science and technology ecosystem in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Mr. Aw Beng Teck, Senior Director of Nanyang Technological University (NTU - Singapore), Singapore currently has more than 4,500 startups, contributing 144 billion USD to the economy and creating more than 208,000 jobs in the technology sector. In particular, universities play a central role in nurturing ideas, developing high-quality human resources and commercializing research. NTU has developed an innovation roadmap consisting of 3 pillars: forming entrepreneurial thinking for students; providing resources, support funds, creative spaces and acceleration programs for startups; connecting with global networks in centers such as San Francisco, Tokyo, Paris...

NTU has also become a model for university-business-government linkage to develop a startup ecosystem. “HCMC needs to promote the role of universities as a pillar in the startup ecosystem, a place to train human resources, incubate technology, lead innovation; encourage commercialized research projects and support early-stage investment capital for technology startups,” Mr. Aw Beng Teck suggested.

BA TAN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/xay-dung-he-sinh-thai-khoi-nghiep-ben-vung-post811503.html