Innovation in central Việt Nam – a push from Đà Nẵng

Đà Nằng City is positioned as the centre and nucleus of innovation start-ups in the region. — VNA/VNS Photo

ĐÀ NẴNG — Localities in the central region have strengthened connections and cooperation in research, technology transfer and innovation with other provinces, countries and international organisations to make activities ever more become vibrant, practical and effective.

In recent years, Đà Nẵng City has been positioned by the Government as a main nucleus of innovation start-ups in the region and is emerging as an ideal destination for innovative businesses, with many incentives and specific policies aimed at the sector.

The city currently has an Innovation Start-up Support Centre, two university-based start-up hubs, numerous investment funds and special clubs that create a favourable environment for businesses and individuals.

Currently, the city is working to develop more policies and mechanisms to support innovative businesses to grow, such as directly supporting projects and businesses, providing loan support, fostering technological innovation and developing intellectual property assets.

Lê Thị Thục, deputy director of Đà Nẵng’s Department of Science and Technology, said that with the mechanisms, policies and efforts of various ecosystem components, Đà Nẵng’s innovation start-up activities will see robust growth and play a vital role in business development, promoting economic growth and improving the quality of life for the community.

The National Assembly has issued the Resolution 136 on urban governance and certain special policies for Đà Nẵng City that outlines breakthrough groups in science and technology innovation, providing favourable conditions for start-up businesses to develop.

Over the past three years, the city has provided more than VNĐ5 billion (US$200,000) for innovation start-up projects including the FiveSS electronic commerce platform for the construction and home care sectors, which won third prize at the Đà Nẵng Innovation Start-up Competition in 2023.

To date, the FiveSS e-commerce platform has connected suppliers with those in need of construction products and services.

FiveSS founder Đỗ Quý Sự said that his business has received significant support from local authorities, agencies and units during its start-up journey.

The Đà Nẵng authority should continue to support start-up businesses in media, marketing and start-up capital, especially for socially beneficial projects, he said.

Among many start-up businesses, EM&AI JSC stands out with its success in Đà Nẵng’s start-up ecosystem.

EM&AI focuses on developing artificial intelligence (AI) technology, providing virtual assistant applications for phone operators and AI Chatbot services for automated customer responses.

CEO of EM&AI Lê Ngọc Trí suggested that Đà Nẵng City should establish a specialised team to provide orders for start-ups, which would stimulate ecosystem components to boldly implement new projects.

In 2024, Đà Nẵng’s Innovation Start-up Support Centre is actively assisting new projects, connecting them with experts, investors and investment funds.

Director of the centre Nguyễn Viết Toàn said that at the festival in August, the centre introduced all the city’s start-up products to international investment funds and hosted workshops to allow investment funds to directly interact with start-up project owners.

Đà Nẵng has also launched the Đà Nẵng-Seoul Innovation Space and is promoting the establishment of the Việt Nam-Korea Investment Fund, creating favourable conditions for start-ups.

The city is becoming an attractive start-up destination for many businesses, with a supportive environment and policies.

However, according to experts, there is still a gap between policy and implementation in the activities of application, technology transfer, innovation and technological advancements at the local level and within businesses, which needs to be solved.

Incentive policies

Deputy Director of the Department of Technology Development and Innovation under the Ministry of Science and Technology Nguyễn Đức Hoàng said to make the application, technology transfer and innovation activities in the region and across the country vibrant, practical and effective, the activities of connection and cooperation in research, technology transfer and innovation need to be enhanced.

Assessment of production technology level and capacity, identification of technology needs in a number of key areas of localities need to be carried out from which solutions to support technology improvement must be found, Hoàng said.

The department recently organised a workshop titled 'Promoting the Application, Technology Transfer and Innovation in the Central Region' to encourage research, application, technology transfer and innovation activities, contributing to the socio-economic development of provinces and cities.

It aimed to guide organisations, individuals and businesses within and outside the region in implementing the Ministry of Science and Technology’s support policies regarding application and technology transfer, along with innovation.

Hoàng said that public non-business units with the function of technology application and transfer will be supported to become focal points for promoting local technology and innovation activities, thereby enhancing productivity and quality for key and major products of provinces and cities in the region.

In addition, provinces and cities in collecting and evaluating local innovation indexes (PII) will be provided with a scientific and practical basis for decision-making, policy formulation and implementation, contributing to the socio-economic development of localities of the entire country, he said.

Notably, the department will focus on certain technologies and solutions from both domestic and international sources aimed at technologies for the preservation and processing of oranges and pomelos, the application of light technology and IoT control in high-tech agricultural production and rapid freezing technology to preserve the freshness of products. — VNS