Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Nguyen Minh Vu at the webinar on September 24 (Photo: VNA)Berlin (VNA) – An online discussion was held onSeptember 24 as part of the Asia Berlin Summit 2020, focusing on promotingstartup and innovation ecosystems in Vietnam.
The event, co-organised by the VietnameseEmbassy in Germany and the Vietnam Germany Innovation Network, featuredspeakers from the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry ofInformation and Communications of Vietnam, the German software corporation SAP,FPT Germany, and the two countries’ startup companies. It was also attended bysome 100 participants online.
Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Minh Vu said thecountry considers promoting science-technology and innovation as one of thepillars in developing and modernising its economy.
It boasts considerable advantages for steppingup innovation, including more than 3,000 startups and 24 business incubatorsand growing investment in startups in recent years. The tech workforce is anotherstrength as the country owns over 400,000 people trained in ICT and 50,000graduates in this sector every year.
A number of major global tech firms have alsobeen planning to operate in Vietnam, he added.
Vietnam-Germany relations have been deepened in variousfields, and cooperation in science-technology and innovation is viewed as oneof the prioritised areas.
Thanks to the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement(EVFTA) already taking effect and the EU-Vietnam Investment ProtectionAgreement (EVIPA) awaiting ratification, trade and investment ties betweenVietnam and Germany, as well as the EU as a whole, are expected to increasestrongly, including in science-technology and innovation.
At the discussion, representatives from the twoVietnamese ministries updated participants on the country’s innovation andstartup ecosystems, policies and programmes supporting innovation and ITcapacity development, along with cooperation with important partners, includingGermany and the EU, to turn it into a leading startup and innovation hub inAsia.
Meanwhile, representatives from SAP and FPT Germanyshared experience in developing partnership between Vietnamese and Germanenterprises, and the firms’ support for startups and businesses in Vietnam.
Apart from proposing some recommendations toVietnamese authorities to improve the business climate in the IT sector, theyalso gave many useful advice to Vietnamese businesses and startups wishing tocooperate with German and European companies./.
VNA
