Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, Truong Viet Dung, shared this information during the Techfest 2025 press conference held on the afternoon of December 3rd in Hanoi. The Techfest 2025 startup festival, themed “Nationwide Creative Innovation – A New Growth Driver,” is jointly organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Hanoi People’s Committee. It will take place at the Hoan Kiem Lake pedestrian street from December 12th to 14th.
Further discussing the policy direction for science, technology, and innovation development in the coming period, Mr. Truong Viet Dung announced that on December 22nd, the city will inaugurate the Innovation Center Network, creating a connectivity hub for the startup community.
Notably, Hanoi will launch a venture capital fund with an initial scale of 600 billion VND, excluding contributions from strategic enterprises. The city is also adopting a new management mindset: any innovation hub established by enterprises, if eligible, will receive the same preferential mechanisms as public hubs, fostering a widespread resource-sharing network.
Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, Truong Viet Dung, speaks at the Techfest 2025 press conference on December 3rd. Photo: Ministry of Science and Technology |
In terms of human resources, Hanoi is developing a plan to train 1,000 PhDs and 50,000 digital workforce members. Notably, the city pledges to be the “first customer” for tech startups by using its budget to purchase research products for commercialization, benefiting citizens—such as health screening kits in healthcare.
Mr. Truong Viet Dung reported that, as of now, Hanoi’s budget revenue stands at approximately 635 trillion VND. Annually, the city allocates 400–500 billion VND for science, technology, and digital transformation, with about 95% being public investment. In the future, this budget could increase to several trillion VND.
Addressing the Shortage of High-Tech Startups
Previously, at a venture capital fund seminar in October, Mr. Pham Tuan Hiep, Director of BK Holdings Incubator, noted that most Vietnamese startups operate in information technology, with a lack of high-tech, deep-tech startups in areas like new materials, cell technology, and nanotechnology. Additionally, there is a significant shortage of incubators and funds focused on these fields.
This reality is candidly acknowledged by policymakers and experts. Mr. Pham Hong Quat, Director of the Department of Startup and Technology Enterprise (Ministry of Science and Technology), observed that while Vietnamese universities and research institutions hold numerous source technologies, the biggest barrier has been the lack of mechanisms to unlock and commercialize these resources.
Delving deeper into the mismatch within the domestic startup ecosystem, Mr. Tran Anh Tuan identified two core reasons: Vietnam’s spending on research and development (R&D) is among the lowest, below 1% of GDP, and infrastructure, research centers, and laboratories remain small and fragmented.
To break this impasse, the Government has introduced breakthrough policies, including free transfer of all research results to institutes and universities, enabling the creation of spin-off enterprises from source technologies.
According to Mr. Tran Anh Tuan, Vietnam aims to increase its R&D budget during 2026–2030, supporting deep research groups in areas like gene technology and stem cells, thereby producing high-tech innovations.
Regarding infrastructure, the Director of the Hanoi Department of Science and Technology announced that the city will establish three large-scale, internationally standardized laboratories. Notably, these labs will follow a “triple helix” model involving research institutions, universities, enterprises, and Hanoi.
These laboratories will focus on researching and developing new and cutting-edge technologies. Combined with legal frameworks such as Decree 271 on spin-off enterprises, venture capital funds, and science and technology development funds, these mechanisms will nurture high-tech ideas and gradually resolve long-standing bottlenecks.
Vice Chairman Truong Viet Dung emphasized that Hanoi places high expectations on the startup ecosystem and researchers to adopt innovative solutions, connect experts, and address urban challenges like environmental pollution, transportation, and healthcare.
He also affirmed that to achieve the 11% growth target pledged to the Government, Hanoi has “no choice but to rely on science, technology, digital transformation, and innovation.”
Du Lam
– 05:30 04/12/2025
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