Supporting entrepreneurship is a hot topic globally, yet Vietnam seems to have embraced the entrepreneurial spirit more passionately as a nation than most. The Vietnamese government is determined to build up the nascent entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country and make Vietnam a startup nation by 2020.
Their efforts seem to be paying off, as Microsoft Vietnam recently signed a memorandum of understanding to support and develop information and technology applications for the country's startup community with Vietnam Silicon Valley, an initiative of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Vietnamese Government. Becoming an entrepreneur is something that resonates highly with the Vietnamese people, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report (GEM Report), that came out last year.
The Global Entrepreneurship Week host in Vietnam, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), is busy finalizing preparations for Global Entrepreneurship Network – Vietnam, the country affiliate of GEN in Vietnam. VCCI invites the startup ecosystem stakeholders in Vietnam to become members of GEN Vietnam to help improve the country’s position in the global entrepreneurship community. If your organization is interested in being involved, please contact nhngoc@vcci.com.vn or thuyltt@vcci.com.vn. GEN Vietnam will be officially announced during GEW Vietnam 2016.
With the legal entity for GEN Vietnam country affiliate in place, Vietnam joins the ranks of other countries such as Algeria, Greenland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Moldova, Namibia, Norway, Qatar, South Africa and Sierra Leone with already established GEN country entities. GEN enables every country to align a varied collection of players, programs, and information to better support entrepreneurship. Alignment helps to streamline efforts, minimize competition among those with limited resources, and maximize impact.
GEN country affiliates provide national leadership in the effort by: convening and connecting ecosystem players; amplifying outreach and increasing awareness; evaluating and endorsing tried and tested programs; serving as a source of quantifiable data and qualitative information; and acting as a hub for sharing knowledge and experience. If you are a GEW host, who would like to take the leadership role in establishing GEN country please contact buke@genglobal.org.
VCCI is also focused at making GEW Vietnam 2016 a huge success with various different activities ranging from training courses, seminars to roundtable discussions. The main events include the National Forum on Startups in Ho Chi Min City on Nov. 16, and TECHFEST Vietnam 2016 in Hanoi.
TECHFEST Vietnam is the first national startup ecosystem event, endorsed by the Ministry of Science and Technology, a member of GEN Vietnam. The event was born out of the need to have a national event to showcase the entire tech environment in the country, not only the startups, but also other startup ecosystem stakeholders, similar to Israel’s DLD Innovation Festival or Singapore’s Echelon. The scale of the event, the regional connection building element and the diversity of participants also ensures more coverage from both the national and international media. Other examples of similar national events centred on Global Entrepreneurship Week include “Failing Forward” Conference in Belgium and the “How To Get There Summit” in the Netherlands.
TECHFEST 2015 attracted more than 50 investors, and 50 startup booths that resulted in investments of more than $1 million USD, and earned praise from participants for successful ecosystem building, forging regional connections and talent exposure, TECHFEST 2016 organizers have set the bar even higher for this year’s event.
TECHFEST Vietnam 2016 will be held from Nov. 11-12, 2016, at the National Convention Center in Hanoi. The event is designed to bring together the young, dynamic and vibrant startup community in a wide array of activities, including:
- Exhibition of products and services from promising startups and support organizations for startups
- Investment match-making sessions with more than 100 startups and 100 investors
- Match-making sessions for tech talent and startups
- Seminars and workshops focusing on tech trends for priority sectors (Education, Agriculture/Life Sciences, Financial technology/ E-commerce, Mobile, Management technology, Games/ Entertainment/ Communications, and Future technologies (such as the Internet of Things, Smart Cities), ecosystem building and startup investments
- Opportunities to meet with potential customers, local and international media
To participate in TECHFEST Vietnam 2016, you can register here: https://goo.gl/forms/45Hg1eTxJifyALfT2.