Dam Quang Thang, Chairman of the National Innovation Startup Advisory Council, General Director of Agricare Vietnam Co., Ltd.

How do you evaluate startup activities in Vietnam in the first half of 2022?

In 2021, we have received nearly US$1.5 billion in investment for domestic startups. This was a good signal in the context of the domestic and world economy being heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, from such investments, many investment activities and cash flows have been implemented specifically, bringing exciting development to the startup movement.

In my opinion, startup activities are going deeper and higher, pushing the community's awareness about entrepreneurship in a more open direction. Therefore, innovative programs to support startups, including supporting organizations, financial providers, and investment funds are replicated; leaders have also been better understanding entrepreneurship, understanding difficulties in startup activities to come up with many solutions to clear problems in entrepreneurship.

Thanks to such support, now depending on the size and level of startups, many young people have come up with effective and sustainable business models and strategies. For example, they turn advantageous products with local characteristics into products of high added value, creating spillover effects on society.

An example of a startup model by trading products related to fenugreek, this startup has turned the typical local tree into a luxury product, solved employment problems for local workers, and built a brand for the tree as well as the locality. Moreover, there are young people who start a business based on local specialties such as Phu Tho sour meat. They have developed a strategy to become a big business, and take the lead in supplying food to the market. These are good startup models that need to be promoted and spread among young people.

In your opinion, what support do startups need to be more effective?

We are in the process of building and perfecting an innovative startup ecosystem, so we need to learn from other countries' experiences and initiatives on startups. Currently, many initiatives have been applied by countries to encourage external resources to support domestic startups.

In Vietnam, the common problem is that startups have not found a place to access resources. One of the three important types of "capital" that best supports startups is social "capital", which means that they must know about the ecosystem and must be able to participate in programs and events related to creative startups. Thus, startups will know which incubators, support organizations, or experts they can approach. Additionally, they always need financial resources. Therefore, it is necessary to open bottlenecks to help investors participate in the startup market, combine and support young people with finance or a team of consultants.

Of course, this is not a problem that can be solved and supported immediately but needs a period to help young people have a good environment to promote creative startups. For the startup ecosystem, the university component is really important, because this is the place to provide talents, subjects of entrepreneurship, and academic-related issues, lecturers in universities are also advisory teams. Linking with universities will form startup incubators, in which the biggest resources are alumni - successful startups. They can come back to help students who are still studying, become investors, and provide direct support for young people to start a business.

What conditions are needed to bring startups' products to international markets, sir?

Not only for startups, but for experienced businesses, exporting products to international markets depends on the field, product quality, and conditions of import markets. For startups, export activities will need more than normal businesses in terms of business size and meeting technical requirements.

Therefore, we need a methodical national strategy. Startups have to improve their capacity, and need more social capital and financial resources. All these resources are available in the government's innovative startup support programs, with the help of experienced experts, but the problem is how can startups approach them, thereby bringing their products to the international market in the best way.

Thank you, Sir!

According to the Investment Law (2020), innovative startup investment projects, innovation centers, research and development centers are entitled to investment incentives, including tax incentives; import tax exemption for a number of goods; exemption or reduction of land use levy and land rent; increase the time and the amount of expenses deductible when calculating tax on asset depreciation.

In May 2022, the Ministry of Planning and Investment issued Circular No. 06/2022/TT-BKHDT guiding a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 80/2021/ND-CP, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Supporting Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises.

This circular specifies the conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises to receive support. In which, in terms of supporting creative start-ups, the students of these units will be supported with tuition fees, materials, meals, accommodation, and transportation; support to maintain their accounts on e-commerce platforms; and participation in international competitions on innovative startups.