Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Despite stronggrowth, investment into innovative start-ups in Vietnam remains relativelymodest compared to the region and the world.

Dien Dan Doanh Nghiep (Business Forum)newspaper organised the 2018 Start-up Forum in Hanoi on April 24.

According to a Topica Founder Institutereport, up to 291 million USD was poured into Vietnamese start-ups last year, ayear-on-year increase of 42 percent.

According to Tech in Asia, the SoutheastAsian region has attracted 7.86 billion USD in start-ups last year.

Therefore, the amount of investment intoVietnamese start-ups accounted for a very small proportion, less than 5 percent,reported Tu Minh Hieu, a representative from the Department of Market andSci-Tech Enterprise Development, Ministry of Science and Technology.

The number of investment transactions in Vietnamis also increasing, however the number of transactions under 1 million USD isin the majority, Hieu said.

The amount of investment with capital ofover 10 million USD is small, he said. “The number of merger and acquisition(M&A) deals is very small. No startup has made an initial public offering(IPO)”.

Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the VietnamChamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said that capital for start-ups isvery important.

There are currently more than 50 investmentfunds in diverse investment forms but scattered and in small scales, Loc said.

Therefore, the VCCI Chairman said that itis necessary to research more deeply on the investment funds to createsupportive mechanisms to help enterprises focus on innovative start-up ideas.

"Capital for start-ups must always beready, because this is the ’baby bottle’ for successful start-ups, therefore weneed more ways for this ’baby bottle’ to grow," he emphasised.

The Government has promulgated manyregulations and programmes to support start-ups, especially innovativestart-ups, including Decree 38/2018/NĐ-CP on innovative start-up investment. TrinhThi Huong from the Enterprise Development Agency, Ministry of Planning andInvestment, said Decree 38 identified and recognised innovative start-upinvestment activities as a business; identified the legal status of innovativestart-up companies and funds.

The decree is expected to provide a legalbasis for private investors when jointly contributing capital to establish acreative start-up fund; streamline capital flows for creative start-upactivities. In addition, Vu Tien Loc also spoke highly on the role of largeenterprises as the senior companies will provide funds for start-up investorsto carry out social responsibility.

“This is considered one of the goals ofdeveloping a start-up community in Vietnam, therefore, large enterprises needto boost action plans and spend for start-up capital," he said.

In addition, the VCCI leader said that thecountry’s entrepreneurial spirit is not inferior compared to the globallandscape.

According to a VCCI study of over 60economies, Vietnam is among the 20 economies that have leading entrepreneurialspirit.

However, in terms of the possibility ofrealising the ideas of starting a business and introducing a business model, Vietnam is among 20 economies in thesecond half," he said.-VNA