Da Nang (VNA) – The Vietnamese Government wishes to speed up thedevelopment of the start-up community and ecosystem, despite a number ofdifficulties facing the nation, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has affirmed.

Speaking at a high-level policy dialogue on regional start-upecosystem development in Da Nang city on November 30, Dam cited statistics assaying that 70 percent of start-up projects in Vietnam see the presence offoreign investors and 39 out of 40 venture capital funds in the country belongto foreigners.

However, there is no distinction between start-up projectsin Vietnam or abroad, he emphasised, adding that the most important issue for start-upsis seeking out opportunities amongst the challenges that the Vietnamese economyis currently facing.

Along with issues related to capital, infrastructure, legalaffairs, and human resources which have been mentioned by many experts and start-upbusinesses, Dam pointed highlighted the difficulty in setting up a major andopen database, contributed by the Government, enterprises, and the public forthe benefit of the start-up community.

The national start-up ecosystem has been developing stronglywith 40 business incubator centres and business accelerator organisations and60 co-working spaces nationwide, as well as the participation of various groupssuch as FPT, Viettel, and Vingroup in venture investment.

Start-up ecosystems in major cities like Hanoi, Da Nang, andHo Chi Minh City have also gained remarkable achievements, thus helping boostthe formation and development of start-up businesses.

Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh shared thatin 2017, science and technology ministers in ASEAN member states issued a jointstatement on innovation to support and develop start-ups. As such, this high-levelpolicy dialogue has been actively realising the joint statement, he said.

Susan Amat, Executive Director of the GlobalEntrepreneurship Network (GEN), who has experience in connecting internationalstart-up sectors, suggested that for young start-up ecosystems like Vietnam,investors should not pay attention to seeking capital, but focus on studyingthe market and learning about locals’ demand.

Sharing Singapore’s policies and opportunities to promoteinnovation, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) Chairman Peter Ong said that his agencyhas helped connect the state and private sectors to create a network and solid infrastructurefor start-ups to flourish.

Singapore has also found different resources to facilitate start-upsthrough links with venture capitalists, he added.

The policy dialogue was held within the framework of thenational start-up day, Techfest 2018.

On the occasion, the National Agency for TechnologyEntrepreneurship and Commercialisation Development under the Ministry ofScience and Technology signed cooperation agreements with the ESG, the ActionCommunity for Entrepreneurship (ACE), and Start-up Thailand. The Vietnam Postand Telecommunications Group also inked a deal with US-based EON Reality Inc.,on the day. –VNA