Support for business start ups

The AI Accelerator Challenge 2021 (AAC 2021), organised by the VSV Foundation under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology and funded by the Australian Embassy, has just officially opened for registration. This is an acceleration program specifically designed for Vietnamese artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups with innovative ideas and products that address the practical needs of the market. The AI Accelerator Challenge 2021, themed "AI in pandemic - Adapting to the new normal", has been organised with the goal of identifying, incubating, promoting and developing potential AI-powered applications in numerous fields such as finance, commerce, electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, education, transportation and smart city. Participants will have the opportunity to undertake a four-week online training course, after which the top five teams will be awarded prizes including a service support package worth VND 500 million, a business promotion and mentoring course worth VND 200 million and up to VND 200 million in seed investment with no equity required. Running from February to August 2021, the program is open for registration until midnight on 25 March 2021. Interested candidates can find more detailed information and apply at https://ai.vsvfoundation.com/ The program will assist Vietnam’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as helping to foster the development of a vibrant AI start-up environment. “Vietnam should be very proud of its successes in tackling COVID-19”, said H.E Mr Andrew Barnes, Australian Chargé d' Affaires to Vietnam. “Through sponsoring programs to promote innovative applications using artificial intelligence, Australia is demonstrating its strong commitment to assisting Vietnam overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting economic recovery and strengthening its innovation system.” “The Government is trying to implement many …

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Flower growers look to online sales amid COVID-19 resurgence Workers at a flower farm in Da Lat City. Traditionally, city dwellers shop for flowers and botanicals at flower markets to fill their home with the most cheerful blooms to celebrate the new year. But many flower growers said that flower markets were not busy this year, leaving them with an oversupply. Nguyen Duy, a flower farm owner in Da Lat City, said that COVID-19 outbreaks in many localities would likely affect people's purchasing power for flowers ahead of Tet festival. Thuy Vu, director of the The Gioi Hoa Tuoi JSC, a wholesale supplier of flowers, said it would not focus on retail sales for the Tet festival this year due to market uncertainty. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan, a flower vendor at Ho Thi Ky flower market in HCM City, said flowers stockpiled for the Tet market this year were not as numerous as last year due to concerns over weak purchasing power. Purchasing orders with flower farms are expected to change in the next few days depending on the control of COVID-19, Lan said. Flower farms in Da Lat City have seen a 55 per cent drop in orders from wholesale markets in other cities and provinces, according to a survey of the Da Lat City People’s Committee. The committee, however, has reported a boom in online sales of agricultural produce, flowers and botanicals ahead of Tet. It advised farms to use bank transfer payments for retail orders and to sign contracts with merchants for wholesale orders to ensure the success of online deals. Livestreams Shoppers can find various types of flowers from flower farms and merchants on online shopping platforms. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy from Biofresh Company in Da Lat City has hosted livestreams via Facebook to guide viewers through different types of flowers and plants available on the farm. Amid the pandemic, live commerce has helped promote and sell products, and engaged potential shoppers, Thuy said. Tran Van Tam, a flower grower in Da Lat …

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Demand for top meat drives funding Demand for top meat drives funding In the midst of the rising demand for quality pork, Vietnam has witnessed growing investment in the clean meat market.  Last week, AVG Capital Partners, a private equity fund from Russia, signed an MoU with Thanh Hoa People’s Committee to develop a $1.4 billion pork processing complex in Nghi Son Economic Zone. With an area of 1,000 hectares, the complex has a designed capacity to produce five million hogs a year. It will boast 43 commercial pig farms and three hybrid pig farms, a mixed feed factory with a capacity of two million tonnes a year, as well as a slaughterhouse and processing plant with a capacity of 600,000 tonnes a year. Phong Quach, head of business development at Ipsos Strategy3 in Vietnam, said that as a general principle, any high-tech investment in agriculture is good for Vietnam. This is because the Vietnamese agricultural sector is still trying to attract more technology that can provide higher output for both the domestic and export markets. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has identified in its objectives for 2030 that it wants to strive for high-value added agricultural outputs rather than volume. Quach added, “When we take a closer look at different points in the value chain and investments, there are different dynamics in the competition depending on the node we review. The latest investment from AVG Capital Partners is a feed-farm-food (3F) investment encompassing the entire production chain. However, the output capacity of the processing facility is much higher than its supply, with 600,000 tonnes of processed meat against five million hogs a year.” This would suggest that there is still significant opportunity for Vietnamese farms to supply this facility. If AVG Capital Partners is looking to source hogs from Vietnamese farms, this would be a vote of confidence for local farming while epidemics still wreak havoc in the global …

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