From domestic and international experience to the orientation of the Creative Startup Center for Ninh Binh

At the Scientific-Practical Workshop "Initiating and promoting the development of an international innovation and startup ecosystem in Ninh Binh - Problems and solutions", Mr. Nguyen Thanh Viet, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Intracom Group, presented a report on the center, clearly analyzing the difficulties in innovation and startup activities in Vietnam and the world; analyzing successful startup models in the world and Vietnam, thereby orienting the innovation startup center for Ninh Binh.

From domestic and international experience to the orientation of the Creative Startup Center for Ninh Binh

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Viet, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Intracom Group, gave a central report at the workshop.

According to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Intracom Group, we are living in an era where "Startup and Innovation" have truly merged and harmonized together like water and milk: When mentioning startups, we must immediately think of the innovation content in startups, when there is Innovation - Creativity, we immediately think of creating Startups.

In the context of globalization and the constant development of technology, building an ecosystem of "start-up - innovation and international integration" is extremely necessary and urgent. This not only helps us take advantage of new opportunities but also creates a solid foundation to face future challenges.

Facing the current wave of startups worldwide, Vietnam in general and Ninh Binh province in particular are no exception to this trend. Vietnam is even ranked in the list of countries with the TOP entrepreneurial spirit. The period from 2017 to 2020 is considered the strongest boom period of startups in our country with a skyrocketing number. According to the General Statistics Office, by 2020, the whole country had 760,000 operating enterprises, small and medium enterprises accounted for 97% (including startups). For Ninh Binh province, in 2024, for the first time, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced the innovation index of provinces and cities, Ninh Binh ranked 16/63 nationwide.

Looking at the numbers and rankings above, many people will probably immediately judge that the activities of Vietnamese startups are very vibrant with a lot of development potential. However, in reality, Vietnam is among the 20 countries with a very low ability to successfully implement business plans with good results. Only about 3% of them are considered successful compared to the original direction that businesses have set. In addition, based on the survey results of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), there is a sad result that only 10% of startups at the time of the survey were successful.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Intracom Group presented the successful experiences of some countries in the world as well as Vietnam in promoting innovative startups and economic development. Specifically, in Singapore - the "Asian dragon", the driving force lies in the funding and support resources of the government (providing capital, adjusting and changing policies) to help the country become a friendly investment and startup environment.

In China, the country focuses on technological innovation across all manufacturing sectors, from hardware to software, promoting strategic industries such as biotechnology, internet, next-generation information technology and AI; and enacting a "Venture Capital" policy through cooperation with private investors to target startups in key areas, especially in terms of technology.

In Korea, to support and promote startups, the Government has developed business incubators, provided startup consulting and financial support...

In Vietnam, currently, many units have been established nationwide to support innovative startups from the private sector, the public sector and international organizations, under many diverse models such as the Youth Startup Support Center, the National Center for Innovative Startup Support...

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Intracom Group said that the model of a startup and innovation center consists of two important components, including facilities and an operational management mechanism. Facilities play a fundamental role, including workspaces, laboratories, technical equipment and other supporting facilities to facilitate startups in implementing ideas and developing products. However, for a startup center to be truly effective, the facilities need to be supported by a flexible and effective operational management mechanism. This mechanism includes policies, processes and management systems, ensuring that all activities in the center run smoothly, from attracting and supporting startups to connecting with investors, research organizations and strategic partners.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Intracom Group proposed that Ninh Binh should build a Center for Startups and Innovation to create an environment to support and promote the development of startups and innovation activities. The scale of the Center is about 50 hectares, including office areas, conference and event centers, training facilities and startup students, etc.

Regarding the mechanism and relationship between the subjects in the Startup and Innovation Center model, the state has the role of creating an environment to promote the development of the components in the ecosystem; enterprises and corporations build investment funds for startup projects, support capital to maintain startup projects, support knowledge and experience for the startup community; universities and research institutes provide human resources...

From the above analysis, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Intracom Group affirmed: The supporting role of these organizations is extremely important. Because when it comes to creative startups, it is necessary to solve problems in new ways, high risks and sometimes difficult to understand. Therefore, there needs to be intermediaries in the middle to connect the parties with problems and solutions and more comprehensive support such as consulting, advising, investing, calling for capital, hardware and software support, market support, business models, etc. but also the party that controls the quality and effectiveness of the projects.

In recent times, our Open Innovation Startup Ecosystem has received and placed in the right place very important intermediary units so that new ideas, new products, new models and even new businesses have the opportunity to succeed sooner, more certainly and at a higher rate. The forms of intermediary organizations are also very diverse, from: Centers for promoting and supporting technology transfer activities; Centers for supporting intellectual property valuation; Centers for supporting innovative startups; Technology incubators, science and technology business incubators, platforms connecting supply and demand for innovative startups; Technology exchanges,...

In the current digital age, digital platforms connecting the supply and demand sides of innovative startups will be an indispensable element to promote continuous, on-demand connections that are not limited in time and space between subjects in the Open Innovative Startup Ecosystem. Only when these platforms operate actively and vigorously can they maximize the flow of information about innovative startups and stimulate the most and fastest interactions and connections between subjects.

From experience observed from abroad, there is always a need for public-private partnerships to develop and operate such platforms most effectively.

Song Nguyen-Anh Tuan