Pham Hong Quat, director general, NATEC and Leon Cai, regional director (Ho Chi Minh City), Enterprise Singapore The Vietnamese agency (NATEC) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) have renewed their cooperation for another two years. What will be the focuses in the next stage? How will it benefit the innovation landscape for Singapore and Vietnam? Pham Hong Quat: Singapore is considered to be the hub of innovation as well as a “paradise” for startups, with startup-friendly policies including subsidies and a range of incubation schemes. With its advanced IT infrastructure, strong government support, intellectual property laws, and deep tech talent pools, Singapore has become a world-leading technology innovation centre. Thus, the cooperation between NATEC and ESG will provide an open space for best practices and know-how sharing, particularly on the crafting and execution of startup and innovation supporting policies, as well as building and operating startup hubs. Through market access programmes and joint events, Vietnamese startups will have a chance to experience and benefit from peer-to-peer learning with their counterparts. Operating in the world’s leading and most vibrant ecosystem, Singaporean startup founders and teams have admirable skills and qualities, for example, creative thinking; entrepreneurship and management skills; fundraising and management; as well as research and development (R&D). Moreover, there will be a high chance that our startups can find great partners or clients in a new market. One of the biggest concerns for Vietnamese startups might be how to get funding from venture capital funds or angel investors and how to manage them wisely, especially during the crisis. Thus, what they need to focus on is acquiring valuable know-how and skills from their counterparts and taking any opportunity to interact and learn from experienced investors and mentors. Leon Cai: The renewed MoU will build on existing partnerships between …
Startup businesses
The Vietnamese shining heirs
The next-generation of billionaires’ families own trillions of dong worth of stocks and run large businesses. Do Huu Duy Anh of Duc Giang Chemicals (left) The successor of Duc Giang Chemicals Do Huu Duy Anh works for his family-run company, Duc Giang Chemicals Group JSC. Before studying abroad, Anh was sent by his father to the factory in Long Bien district in Hanoi to work as a construction worker. Returning to Vietnam, he became the assistant to the CEO and two years later became deputy CEO of the company at the age of 25. He took the office as CEO of Duc Giang six years later. Now Anh, 33, holds VND300 billion worth of shares. Anh said it is unreasonable to consider Duc Giang a family-run company, because it lists shares on the bourse. Only the president and CEO are family members, while factory directors are not. The son of US dollar female billionaire In 2019, Tommy Nguyen, the son of Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, the only female billionaire in Vietnam, became the co-founder of Swift 247, a technology startup operating in the field of logistics and forwarding. When he was at school, he decided to ‘do something different’ regarding the mode of transport in the Vietnamese market. He found that Prime Amazon could ship goods in 29 states in the US within two days, while there were many problems in logistics services in Vietnam and Asia in the context of the e-commerce boom. That was why his startup was established. In September 2020, Vietjet announced the restructuring and development of cargo transport by air using digital technology and e-commerce via an M&A between Vietjetair Cargo and Swift247. In November 2020, Swift247 changed its business registration with charter capital of VND47 billion. The company shifted from a limited company into a joint stock company. Vietjet is the shareholder with controlling stake (67 percent of capital). Young banker owns trillions of dong ACB shares have seen prices increase by VND4,300 per …
High-tech park incentives under review
The country’s three high-tech parks still have plenty of space to fill for new projects. Photo: Le Toan Hoa Lac High-tech Park (HHTP) is now surrounded with complete infrastructure and favourable transport links which were expected to be an important factor for investment attraction. According to the park’s Management Board, it attracted six projects with total investment of about VND9 trillion ($391 million) in 2020, including one foreign and five domestically-owned. They focus on research and development, manufacturing, and high-tech pharmacy. While the figure is higher than that of 2019, when the park lured in just four domestically-invested projects registered at VND7.46 trillion ($324 million), it was far lower than 2018, when it attracted 11 projects registered with VND17 trillion ($739 million), a record high over the past 20 years. Notable names involved included Nidec, Mitsubishi, and Hanwha Group. The result is lower than expected though the HHTP itself enjoys Decree No.74/2017/ND-CP which came into effect in 2017, governing special mechanisms and policies for the park only. Few social infrastructures such as workers’ housing, hospitals, trade centres, and other services have been licensed there. Industry insiders said that in the context that the country is promoting high-tech foreign investment and the trend of making business and investment in the local market among technology groups, the lacklustre foreign investment attraction of the HHTP has raised questions over how attractive it actually is. While COVID-19 is an obvious reason, others should be included, some added. Established in 1998, the filling rate of the park is now 40 per cent of its over 1,500 hectares. The HHTP boasts the longest history among the country’s three high-tech parks, and has the advantages thanks to Decree 74, which includes unique incentives such as the 10 per cent corporate income tax (CIT) within the first 30 years for a new investment project of at least VND4 …
