The HCMC Department of Science and Technology is expected to announce a startup supportive program at the end of November in which VND1 trillion (US$44.7 million) would be lent to young local businesses.



HCMC Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong speaks at a conference on support for startup projects on October 21


Local government has plans to assist some 2,000 startup projects from now to 2020. Up to now, enterprises have registered to get support for 200 projects.

The capital will be used to help startups complete their ideas, business and service models and run trial production, said a representative of the department at a conference in HCMC on October 24.

HCMC Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said that the city has too many incubators giving support to startups, so local government and young businesses have met with difficulties when it comes to startup assistance.

In the coming time, local authorities will set up a startup support center to connect startups with investment funds. The center will give advice on policies and legal matters to boost startup investment in the city.

On October 11, the city government decided to give a maximum financial support of VND2 billion (US$90,000) to each of the startup projects in key industrial sectors, supporting industries and services such as finance-banking-insurance, trade, tourism, transport, logistics, post and telecom, real estate, health, education and training.

Le Hai Tra, deputy general director of the HCMC Stock Exchange (HOSE), said startup means gathering resources to seek a unique business model. Despite many breakthrough initiatives, startup investment is risky.

Statistics show that up to 90% of startup projects have ended up in failure, mostly because enterprises could not meet market demands. The city government should have policies to support startups and establish a stock exchange for them, Tra said.

As targeted, the city will see 500,000 new active companies in 2020.

Earlier, the Government’s Resolution 35 set the goal of raising the number of enterprises nationwide to one million in 2020. The private sector will contribute around 48-49% of gross domestic product (GDP).

SGT