APEC 2017 Startups Forum promotes innovation and cooperation

September 12, 2017 | 17:05

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Discussions at the APEC 2017 Startups Forum on providing further incentives to micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), especially startup businesses, will be considered and submitted to the SME Ministerial Meeting of APEC 2017.

APEC 2017 Startups Forum took place in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Le Toan

On September 12, 2017, the APEC 2017 Startups Forum took place in Ho Chi Minh City. With the aim of supporting MSMEs, the forum is expected to draw up solutions for MSMEs to innovate, integrate, and access the global value chain right at their nascent business stage, thereby accelerating sustainable and environment-friendly socioeconomic growth.

Vo Tan Thanh, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said that creating a startup ecosystem is important to encourage the strong growth of startup businesses in developing countries, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Currently, Vietnam is actively encouraging startups all around the country by implementing new policies to support these innovative enterprises.

According to the directions of the government, by 2020, there will be one million active enterprises in Vietnam. This is the foundation for the government to conduct new policies to facilitate enterprise development.

Launching the forum in Ho Chi Minh City was an appropriate choice, as this is a leading city for the startup trend, giving rise to a strong wave of new enterprises. Ho Chi Minh City wishes to become an urban centre of startups, targeting to host 500,000 active enterprises by 2020.

The APEC 2017 Startups Forum was proposed by VCCI and received support from numerous enterprises in Vietnam. The forum aims to provide APEC economies with opportunities to exchange experience and propose innovative ideas to build a sustainable APEC community.

The forum also unified the APEC 2017’s main target of supporting and modernising MSMEs.

Tran Van Tung, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that APEC economies should enhance cooperation on economy, technology, and information exchange. He also emphasised that promoting startups is an inevitable trend.

“We have enough evidence to say that startups and innovation, from startup networks, startup nations to silicon valleys, have never been seen by APEC economies like this,” Tung said.

He indicated that the startup ecosystem is being built so there are still huge differences among APEC economies, and startups are confronted with numerous difficulties in calling for resources. Thus, APEC economies should enhance cooperation to create a strong foundation to support startups and innovation.