SIHUB joins ASEAN startup program
SIHUB joins ASEAN startup program
The Saigon Innovation Hub (SIHUB), under the HCMC Department of Science and Technology, has officially been accredited as Vietnam’s only representative to the ASEAN startup program.
A source from SIHUB said that the unit was offered the appointment by Dr. Mohd Hatta Ramli, deputy minister of Entrepreneur Development in Malaysia, on June 19 in Malaysia's capital of Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of Malaysia Tech Week 2019.
The ASEAN startup program initiated by Malaysia New Entrepreneur Foundation is aimed at building a startup community in Southeast Asia under the name “Rice Bowl Republic.”
Rice Bowl Republic is expected to shape startups with the characteristics and features of Southeast Asia to compete with the world’s four largest startup communities: the United States, China, India and Europe.
Tran Bung, member of the board of directors at SIHUB, stated that if startups in the region are connected, all countries in Southeast Asia will have the strength to speed up the development of the market, which boasts 600 million people.
The combination of Vietnam’s abundant and high-quality information-technology workforce, staff with strong English-speaking skills from the Philippines, the advanced tech solutions of Malaysia, supporting models from major groups in Thailand and support from financial investors in Singapore will open the door for startups to go global.
At the launch of Rice Bowl Republic, all members pledged to remove obstacles in their innovation process and support other members’ startup ecosystems to develop a strong startup community.
“We are now aware of the importance of accelerating the globalization of the activities of startup communities in HCMC and across Vietnam,” said SIHUB Director Huynh Kim Tuoc.
The appointment to the ASEAN startup program marked a vital milestone for Vietnamese startups to reach the global market, Tuoc said, adding that in the coming days, SIHUB will announce news related to the startup alliance of Asia and strategic cooperation with Europe’s and the United States’ startup ecosystems to bring more benefits to Vietnamese startups.
Besides this, the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards was launched at the event. This year’s edition will cover 13 categories as “a door” so that startups, startup incubation centers, coworking space centers and schools can access and cooperate with investors and join the global playground with as much support as possible.
