The National Startup Festival 2022 took place in Hanoi on January 19, gathering policymakers; startup accelerators, mentors and advisers; investors; business leaders and representatives of international organisations.

The 19th edition of the annual event was hosted by the Business Forum Magazine under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

In his opening remarks, VCCI President Pham Tan Cong said Vietnam, like many countries around the world, was facing various challenges caused by the uncertainties of the COVID-19 last year. Vietnam has suffered a tough blow from the pandemic as for the first time in the history, the economy declined 6 percent in the third quarter of 2021, he said.

The resilience of enterprises and rise of entrepreneurial spirit in Vietnam remained bright spot of the economy despite all the difficulties, he noted, adding that last year, about 116,800 businesses were newly founded, 43,100 resumed operation, reflecting strong efforts of the Vietnamese business community to restructure and adapt to the COVID-19 and startup spirit of Vietnamese people.

In 2021, Vietnam ranked 44th out of 132 countries and economies in the Global Innovation Index (GII) and 59th out of 100 countries in startup ecosystem. The country also came third in the list of the most active startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia after Indonesia and Singapore./.