HANOI: The Finland–Viet Nam Innovation Partnership Programme Phase 2 (IPP2) plans to support start-up ecosystem developers, universities and other educational organisations in Viet Nam this year to improve their innovation and entrepreneurship. The information was unveiled at the Final Demo Day in HCM City on Saturday to review the implementation of IPP2 between 2014 and 2015.
Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Quoc Khanh said Viet Nam needs strong businesses that are expected to develop in a healthy and creative environment. The ministry has worked to improve policies in the field while encouraging private firms to set up venture investment funds.
This aims to create a favourable financial and legal climate to develop high-tech nurseries and start-up training, especially for young entrepreneurs, he said. He said he hopes innovation experts trained under IPP2 will become crucial factors in Viet Nam’s public and private business sectors.
IPP2 is an Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme financed by the Vietnamese and Finnish governments. The second phase of the programme runs from 2014 to 2018 with a budget of VND264,320 million, aiming to strengthen the Vietnamese innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. It also looks to promote sustainable economic development by increasing production and exports of innovative products and services.
Between 2014 and 2015, IPP2 provided financial, training, consulting and connection assistance for 22 innovation projects in Ha Noi, HCM City, Da Nang, and Thua Thien-Hue.
As of 2015, the projects generated more than 480 jobs for locals and grossed over VND9,632,000,000 in domestic revenue. The projects also raked in more than VND4,816,000,000 by selling products to foreign markets such as the US, Germany and the Republic of Korea.
In 2015, Viet Nam jumped 19 places to rank 52nd out of 141 nations in the global innovation index. It also ranked 56th among 140 countries in global competitiveness, up 12 places.
