Hanoi (VNA) - Da Nang city, positioned as the centre and nucleus of innovation in the central region, has become an ideal destination for startups as various incentives and special pol🐭icies have been put in place to provide financial and tech supports as well as develop intellectu𝓰al property assets.

According to Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Science and Technology Le Thi Thuc, with favourable mechanisms and policies, together with efforts by elements of the startup ecosystem, local startup and innovation will see a robust development, playing an important role in boosting enterprises, bolstering economic growth, and improving the quality of life. The National Assembly recently issued a resolution on the urban administration and several special policies for the city, comprising science-tech and innovative breakthroughs that are expected to facilitate the development of startups, she said. More than 5 billion VND (200,800 USD) has been provided for local startup and innovation projects over the past three years, with the outstanding ones being FiveSS e-commerce platform that connects suppliers and customers in the area of construction, and EM&AI JSC that researches and develops AI services. To date, the FiveSS e-commerce platform has connected suppliers with those in need of construction products and services. FiveSS founder Do Quy Su said that his business has received significant support from local authorities, agencies and units during its start-up journey. The local authority should continue to support start-up businesses in media, marketing and start-up capital, especially for socially beneficial projects, he said. Among many start-up businesses, EM&AI JSC stands out with its success in Da Nang’s start-up ecosystem. EM&AI focuses on developing artificial intelligence (AI) technology, providing virtual assistant applications for phone operators and AI Chatbot services for automated customer responses. The Centre for Innovative Startup Support has work to introduce local startup projects to international investment funds, while the city launched the Da Nang – Seoul Startup Innovation Centre, and is promoting the establishment of the Vietnam – the Republic of Korea Investment Fund to create favourable conditions for startups to get off their grounds.

Deputy Director of the State Agency for Technology Innovation under the Ministry of Science and Technology Nguyen Duc Hoang said that there is a substantial gap between policies and their implementation in technology application and transfer, as well as innovation activities in localities and enterprises in the central region.

Against that backdrop, the agency will join hands with local Departments of Science and Technology to boost cooperation in research, technology transfer and innovation with countries and territories, while helping the localities evaluate their production capacity and identify technology need in their key areas so as to have rational support measures.

According to him, public non-business units with the function of technology application and transfer will be supported to become focal points for promoting local technology and innovation activities, thereby enhancing productivity and quality for key and major products of provinces and cities in the region. In addition, provinces and cities in collecting and evaluating local innovation indexes (PII) will be provided with a scientific and practical basis for decision-making, policy formulation and implementation, contributing to the socio-economic development of localities of the entire country, he said. Notably, the department will focus on certain technologies and solutions from both domestic and international sources aimed at technologies for the preservation and processing of oranges and pomelos, the application of light technology and IoT control in high-tech agricultural production and rapid freezing technology to preserve the freshness of products./.