At the press conference of the Danang Innovation and Startup Festival - SURF 2024 on the morning of August 22, Ms. Le Thi Thuc, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Danang, said that the National Assembly has just passed Resolution No. 136 on the organization of urban government and piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Danang City; including 4 groups of specific policies on science, technology, and innovation that are breakthroughs, removing many current bottlenecks and obstacles.

According to Ms. Thuc, innovative startups are still weak and face many difficulties, especially in the first years of establishment. Therefore, the target audience of this policy includes the predecessors of startups and startups in the first 5 years.

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Ms. Le Thi Thuc, Deputy Director of Da Nang Department of Science and Technology. Photo: D. Thuy

The first group of policies is tax support. Start-ups will be exempt from corporate tax and personal tax. In addition to start-ups, start-up support groups, scientists, individuals, etc. who are active in innovative start-ups will also be exempt from tax for the first 5 years.

The second group of policies is to support innovative start-up projects. The policy will be divided into two segments: projects supported through incubators and support organizations through universities.

Thereby, helping projects with ideas in the pre-incubation, incubation and acceleration stages to perfect the technology; supporting businesses wishing to develop products and expand the market.

The third is a group of controlled testing policies in the form of limited-term licensing. Priority areas are technology, new technology products, new business models, supported and licensed for controlled testing in Da Nang, within a certain space, including: high-tech zones, concentrated IT zones, and innovation zones of Da Nang City.

The trial period when licensed is 3 years and can be extended in special cases.

The final policy group concerns the exploitation of infrastructure assets.

Ms. Thuc said that regarding the use of public assets, Da Nang has been stuck for a long time, so businesses and nurseries cannot use public infrastructure assets. Not only Da Nang, other localities are also facing this problem.

However, in Resolution 136, the National Assembly has allowed Da Nang to pilot. The Department of Science and Technology is developing criteria, procedures, and processes to allow projects of start-ups, incubators, and start-up support organizations to use this space directly without auction and with partial support from the State.

According to the city's request, these policies must be completed in 2024 so that in early 2025, when Resolution 136 comes into effect, Da Nang's policies can be applied immediately.

Danang Innovation and Startup Festival - SURF 2024 is an annual event for the innovation and startup community in Danang city.

SURF 2024 (taking place from August 29-30) gathers the participation and connects many elements of the startup ecosystem such as: state management agencies, partners, universities, incubators, investors, experts, startups... to connect and support startup projects to seek business opportunities, promote products and connect with domestic and international investment funds.