Hanoi (VNA)♔ – The programme “Google for Startups Accelerator Southeast Asia: Vietnam's Breakthrough in Innovation" was launched in Hanoi on July 11.

Theevent was held by Google in collaboration with the National Innovation Centre (NIC) under the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the US mission in Vietnam in order to promote the growth of Vietnamese techstartups. The programme aims to enhance support for thenational digital transformation efforts by providing training courses and anetwork of advisors for Vietnamese startups, with the goal of acceleratingtheir business growth. Speakingat the event, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong said the programme demonstrates the Vietnamese Government’scommitment to supporting the development of the innovation and startupecosystem, as well as Google's commitment to backing innovation andentrepreneurship in emerging markets. It is built upon the success of the 'Googlefor Startups: Startup Academy Vietnam' programme which was launched for thefirst time in Vietnam last year, benefiting 50 startups from 16 different keysectors nationwide. This year, it will focus on training six core industriesinstead of 16, ensuring a more specialised approach and aligning with the country'score development sectors of education, health care, agriculture, retail,fintech, and smart city development. "Google for Startups Accelerator,Southeast Asia" is a three-month programme that begins with a five-dayin-person bootcamp, followed by five online workshops leading up to GraduationDay and Demo Day for investment. Participating startups will have mentoringsessions with experts from Google and industry specialists throughout theperiod. Twenty startups will be selected to join inone-on-one training sessions, direct and group mentoring, and workshops. Theselected startups will join the global Google for Startups network, which comprisesover 1,000 companies from various regions. Google and NIC will also co-design onlinetraining workshops for 200 startups across the country. Last year, the programme featured 15workshops and 283 hours of mentoring with experts and industry insiders. Accordingto the e-Conomy SEA 2022 report, Vietnam is emerging as a startup hub in SoutheastAsia, with the national Internet economy projected to reach 50 billion USD by2025, the fastest growth in the region. Additionally, Vietnam now has fourunicorn companies, including a private startup valued at over 1 billion USD asof 2023 and over 3,400 startups with a skilled workforce capable of developingadvanced technological solutions and products./.