Hanoi launches programme to become start-up city

Hanoi (VNA) - The Department of Information and Communications of Hanoi (DIC) has worked with several agencies to develop an information technology business incubator scheme to promote start-ups.

The aim is to develop Hanoi as a start-up city, Director of the DIC Phan Lan Tu said at a briefing held recently to review the performance of the department in the first six months.

He said the Government had talked a lot about Vietnam becoming a start-up country and Hanoi was eager to become a start-up city.

In May this year, the Prime Minister approved a draft project called “National Programme to Support Innovative Startup Ecosystem in Vietnam by the year 2025” to create a favourable environment to promote and support the development of start-ups with high-growth potential.

The project has set the following targets for 2020: complete the main legal framework for a start-up ecosystem; run an online portal for the National Innovative Start-up Ecosystem; support about 800 start-up projects and 200 start-up enterprises, of which 50 will raise follow-on investment from private venture investors or will undergo mergers and acquisitions worth about 1 trillion VND (about 50 million USD).

By 2025, the project is expected to have supported 2,000 start-up projects and 600 start-up enterprises, of which 100 will have raised follow-on investment from private venture investors, or will have undergone mergers and acquisitions worth about 2 trillion VND.

State funding will only be provided to support start-ups in their earlier stages. Subsequently, support from private investors and organisations will play a vital role in ensuring the efficiency and sustainability of the start-up ecosystem in Vietnam.

Tu said the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) would have a start-up scheme in ICT. Currently, DIC is building a start-up project in Hanoi.

The department has also worked with relevant bodies in order to compile a report for the city administration about IT incubator schemes to enhance start-up activities for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

In the first six months, the department also finished preparing an information technology development programme for the 2016-20 period and a plan to build a software and digital content park.

By the end of June this year, the capital city had issued investment licences to 98 foreign direct investment firms in the field of information and communications technology. Among them, 29 are new projects with a total investment capital of 1.55 billion USD.

In June alone, Hanoi’s total turnover from the export of electronics, PC accessories and peripherals reached 901 million USD.-VNA