Innovative start-ups will enjoy financial support from the National Technology Innovation Foundation (NATIF) fund, according to a directive issued by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Phuc asked the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) to draft a charter on the operation of NATIF to include innovative enterprises as recipients of the fund by the end of the year.

Under the directive, innovative start-ups will enjoy preferential loans and guarantees to incubate new ideas and business models. Star-ups will need to ensure they comply with the Law on Support for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises as well as the criteria set out by the fund.

The directive aims to lure investment in innovative start-ups from domestic and overseas resources.

The Prime Minister approved the project in 2016 with Decision 844/QD-TTg/2016. It focuses on supporting the national innovation start-up ecosystem through 2025 and developing a legal system and a national e-portal for start-ups by 2020.

PM Phuc wanted the MoST to recommend policies to foster an innovative start-up environment and organise annual meetings with investors and start-up enterprises at home and abroad.

The MoST will work in collaboration with the ministries of Planning and Investment, and Finance to identify innovative start-up individuals and enterprises and support the establishment of domestic networks connecting to global networks of "angel investors" in order to increase investment in Vietnamese start-up businesses.

In which, the contents of expenditures suitable for innovative startups will be paid for items including representatives of innovative startup businesses participating in well-known nurseries or working places in the world, the activities of Viet Nam’s innovative startup representatives in a number of innovative start-ups ecosystems, and activities such as market research, expert hiring, payroll, and commercialisation of new technologies, products and services.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment will coordinate with the MoST to propose plans to fast-track investment registration certificates for foreign investors in Viet Nam that are not yet covered by international treaties that Viet Nam is a signatory to.

The Ministry of Education and Training in collaboration with the MoST and the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry will continue to launch start-up training courses at universities. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs will be in charge of simplifying administrative procedures relevant to work licences for foreigners in Viet Nam, according to the directive.

Statistics from the MoST showed that the country has about 600,000 enterprises, including 3,000 innovative start-up enterprises. They are expected to be a driving force for growth, effectively contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.

The number of venture capital funds and individual investors in the country has seen high growth. More than 40 venture capital funds have been set up, including IDG Ventures, CyberAgent Ventures, Captial Ventures, Gobi Partners and 500 Startups.

Meanwhile, many Vietnamese businesses have joined investment capital funds such as CMC Innovation Fund, FPT Ventures, Viettel Ventures and The Vietnam Innovative Startups Accelerator (VIISA), which is jointly operated by FPT, Dragon Capital Group, Hanwha Group (South Korea) and BIDV Securities Company. — VNS