Recent years have demonstrated that innovation plays a crucial role in enhancing productivity, efficiency, growth, and national competitive capabilities in the long term. Especially, facing challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic has emphasized the need for Vietnam to promote innovative activities in economic development, thereby contributing to the realization of restructuring and innovating growth models towards more stable and sustainable directions.

The Vietnamese Government have always prioritized the development of science and technology (S&T) and innovation. Allocating resources for investment has resulted in significant changes to the foundation for scientific research, such as infrastructure for scientific research and technological innovation, leading to valuable scientific topics and technological products that serve the socio-economic development mission.

Furthermore, the Government have introduced many policies to support enterprises in innovation, gradually reducing the economic growth’s dependence on natural resource exploitation, raw exports, and cheap labor, and moving towards relying on strong applications of science, technology, and turning innovation into an endless resource for sustainable growth.

According to the Ministry of Science and Technology (2021), Vietnam currently has over 1,400 organizations capable of supporting startups, including 196 co-working spaces, 69 business incubators, and 28 business promotion organizations.

The number of Venture Capital funds considering Vietnam as a target market includes 108 funds operating in Vietnam, among which 23 are Vietnamese legal entities, and 23 are purely Vietnamese funds. These numbers have been continuously increasing over the years, showing the active participation of the community in the development of the innovative ecosystem.

Some current notable innovative activities include:

1.TECHFEST
The national innovation and startup festival, Techfest Vietnam, is an annual event organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology. It provides a platform for startups to connect with potential customers, investors, experts, and domestic and international startup support organizations.

With the maturity of the innovation and startup ecosystem, TECHFEST VIETNAM has been developed over nearly 6 years with the enthusiastic participation of individuals contributing to the community’s benefit. TECHFEST VIETNAM serves as an opportunity to summarize and convey messages from the Government to the ecosystem.

From 2015 up to now, the program has attracted a total of more than 20,000 attendees, 2,600 start-up businesses, and 1,000 domestic and international investment visitors.

Portal: https://techfest.vn/

2.I-Star Awards
The I-Star Award is an annual innovation and startup award organized by the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City. It plays a significant role in creating a sustainable startup and innovation ecosystem, bringing practical efficiency, fostering the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship across all societal aspects, and contributing to breakthroughs in the city’s development. The award is organized through the coordination of various departments and sectors.

To date, the I-Star has entered its fifth season and continues to garner significant attention, evaluation, and votes from the community, gradually becoming a true “Community Award,” promoting innovative and entrepreneurial activities within the community.

Portal: http://doimoisangtao.vn

3.Young Science and Technology Innovation Incubator Program
The Ho Chi Minh City Young Science and Technology Innovation Incubator Program, launched in 1996, targets scientists and students under 35 years old to encourage and enhance their creativity in scientific research.

Over 25 years, the program has initiated more than 400 research topics, with a total funding of nearly 30 billion VND. Many of these topics have been applied practically and published in prestigious international scientific journals.

Portal: https://khoahoctre.com.vn

4.Ta Quang Buu Award
The Ta Quang Buu Award is an annual award by the Ministry of Science and Technology to encourage and honor scientists with outstanding achievements in basic research in the fields of natural sciences and engineering.

The award is given to authors of excellent scientific works conducted in Vietnam and published in prestigious international scientific journals. The award contributes to promoting basic science research in particular and Vietnamese science and technology in general to reach international levels, creating a premise for the country’s science and technology to integrate and develop.

The award regulations were issued under Circular No. 01/2015/TT-BKHCN dated January 12, 2015, by the Ministry of Science and Technology. It is awarded to scientists in the fields of natural sciences and engineering, including Natural Sciences (Mathematics, Computer Science and Information; Physics, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Biology, Other Natural Sciences), Engineering and Technology, Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Agricultural Sciences. The award structure includes no more than three main awards and one award for a young scientist (under 35 years old) who is the author of an outstanding scientific work.

Every year, scientists with outstanding scientific works are nominated by organizations, individuals, or self-nominated for the award. The applications are evaluated through the specialized scientific councils of the National Foundation for Science and Technology Development and the Award Council (including the chairpersons of the specialized scientific councils and international prestigious scientists like Prof. Pierre Darriulat, Prof. Ngo Bao Chau, Prof. Trinh Xuan Thuan, Prof. Vu Ha Van, Assoc. Prof. Doan Anh Hai, Prof. Nguyen Thuc Quyen, Prof. Dam Thanh Son). The Award Council reviews and proposes the winning works based on the evaluation of the specialized scientific councils and international peer reviewers.

Portal: https://taquangbuuprize.nafosted.gov.vn

5.VIFOTEC Vietnam Science and Technology Innovation Award
The VIFOTEC Vietnam Science and Technology Innovation Award aims to honor scientists and technologists whose works have significant scientific, economic, and social value. It also encourages scientists and technologists to delve into research and apply modern scientific and technological achievements suitable for Vietnam’s context to production and daily life. The awarded works over the years have been effectively applied in Vietnam, contributing to boosting enterprise production, improving productivity and quality, reducing product costs, and substituting imports.

Over 25 years of establishment and development, the VIFOTEC Award has seen nearly 2,400 projects participate, with 775 awarded projects. These projects have been applied in practice, covering priority areas of the Country and having practical significance in production life, thereby creating a technology market serving life, security, and defense.

Portal: http://www.vifotec.com.vn