Vietnam promises support for ‘startup nation’ dream
Recently, the Vietnamese government approved an initiative that will pave the way to the creation of a “complete system of laws on startups and their operations,” according to the government website. Under the project, the government will provide information as well as legal and financial support for an estimated 2,600 startups in the country over the next 10 years.
Vietnam also plans to launch an online portal – one that will provide startups with information on different issues, including technologies, policies and funding – and support centres, so businesses will have access to working space and internet for minimal fees. The government is also considering offering to help startups cover their initial costs for training, product testing and marketing.
The goal, according to Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue, is to have “one million startup enterprises by 2020.”
To achieve this, the deputy PM said cooperation between functional agencies and Ho Chi Minh authorities is needed.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment has already drafted a set of rules that will make it easier for local and international venture capital funds to operate in the country, Thanh Nien News reported. Most of the existing funds in the country are currently managed by local banks and big companies, which prefer to invest in projects that are already worth hundreds of thousands of dollars compared to start-ups that are still in their initial stages.
An estimated 67 local startups have received funding in 2015, a huge spike compared to the 28 startups from the year before, according to data from startup accelerator Topica Founder Institute. About 25.8 per cent of those deals were in form of seed funding from foreign investors.
This article first appeared on EE Times Asia.
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