Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Dinh La Thang took photo with businesspeople (photo: tuoitre.vn)

Ho Chi Minh City intends to become a start-up hub whose investment and commercial environment inspires a start-up spirit among would-be entrepreneurs in every sectors.

Truong Hoang Phi, Director of HCM City’s Center for Young Start-ups, says: “With the goal of turning HCMC into a seed bed for start-ups, especially by young people, we aim to promote young people’s creativity and innovation and provide them with financial support to realize their ideas. The program has been welcomed by young businesspeople, start-ups, students, and people who are nurturing a business dream.”

The HCMC Youth Union, the Vietnam Youth Federation, the Vietnam Student Association of HCMC, and the HCMC Young Business Association have cooperated to assist young start-ups. The HCM City Startup Investment Fund (HSIF), which has a starting capital of 30 billion VND, will invest directly in smart phone and Internet applications and high-tech agricultural production.

Nguyen Tuan Quynh, Vice President of the HCMC Young Business Association, says: “The HCMC Young Business Association has worked with the Center for Young Start-ups to organize contests on start-up ideas, conduct training courses, and finance projects. We provide technical support and senior businesspeople will give advice to the juniors. We finance trade promotion activities to give young people opportunities to market their products. We also sometimes invest in projects or provide loans.”

Secretary of the city’s Party Committee Dinh La Thang said HCMC intends to lead the start-up movement in Vietnam. The City authorities and vocational organizations are collaborating to make HCMC a start-up hub for young people.