ADB to Fund $100M to Improve Business Climate for Startups in HCM City

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will set aside $100 million to help improve business environment for startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam’s southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City in 2018. The information was released at a recent ceremony to launch a co-working space, Saigon Innovation Hub (SIHUB), in HCM City to support the development of the local startup community. The co-working space is an initiative of the municipal Department of Science and Technology and is considered part of a project recently approved by the Vietnamese prime minister. It is funded by the Mekong Business Initiative (MBI). The project, named ‘National Program to Support an Innovative Startup Ecosystem in Vietnam by the Year 2025,’ is meant to create a favorable environment to promote and support the development of startups with high-growth potential. By 2025, the project is expected to have supported 2,000 startup projects and 600 startup enterprises. Nguyen Viet Dung, director of the department, stated that SIHUB will spur entrepreneurship and connect members of the startup community, including incubators, businesses, and financial funds. Besides offering free working space to startups whose product is in the development phase, SIHUB provides gratis consultation and training workshops, and connects entrepreneurs with potential investors. The hub also partners with foreign entrepreneurship communities to ensure achievement-oriented goals. (bizlive.vn Aug 8, http://tuoitrenews.vn/ Aug 7)