Thien Nhan lemons in Nam Kim commune (Nam Dan) belong to the paper lemon family, with a thin skin, seeds, green, round, juicy fruit, and a characteristic aroma. In particular, Thien Nhan lemon trees are endowed with the ability to naturally produce off-season fruit without the need for human intervention or stimulants. Although they are commercial trees, due to the lack of a stable market, the output for lemon trees is very unstable, often "good harvest, low price".
In 2020, the project "Thien Nhan Lemon - Journey following in the footsteps of people" by Mr. Dang Van Hoa - Director of Nam Kim Lemon Cooperative won First Prize in the "Innovative Startup" Contest, organized by the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Science and Technology of Nghe An.
After 3 years, the project has achieved certain successes. The cooperative has built a raw material area according to VietGAP standards to produce clean, quality lemons; the lemon processing factory has gradually been completed with a modern machinery system, processing capacity of more than 1,000 tons of lemons/year; the cooperative has applied modern technology, with the support of local authorities and the advice of leading experts to produce and process a variety of lemon products to serve domestic consumers and export orientation, creating jobs for dozens of local workers. In particular, the Thien Nhan paper lemon area in Nam Kim commune and neighboring communes has been restored and developed.
For Mr. Nguyen Huu Hanh in Tan Thang commune (Quynh Luu), worried about the vast pineapple fields in Quynh Luu district after each harvest season, the pineapple leaves are scattered on the fields, people have to use herbicides to treat them, wait for them to dry and then burn them, causing environmental pollution, hardening the soil, wasting money and affecting the health of farmers, he researched and learned about separating pineapple leaf fibers by machine to serve the textile and handicraft industries. "100 kg of pineapple leaves produce 5 kg of raw silk fibers, sold at 800,000 VND/kg. For each hectare of pineapple, farmers have an additional 60 - 70 million VND from pineapple leaves that previously had to be spent time and money to process," said Mr. Hanh.
In 2021, Nguyen Huu Hanh's project "ECOSOI - sustainable materials - high-end fashion" won second prize at the National Startup Project Development Program. In the process of finding an outlet for pineapple fiber, he connected with 2 partners to establish ECOSOI Company to research, develop and trade pineapple fiber, promoting the product to countries around the world. This is the "stepping stone" for Mr. Hanh to realize the idea of establishing a project to lease land, build a pineapple fiber processing factory, purchase raw pineapple leaves for people in the region and neighboring provinces, creating jobs and stable income for local workers.
In the past 5 years, in Nghe An, many young people have successfully started businesses such as: Tran Thi Ha Nhung with the instant eel product NAP, currently exported to many countries around the world; Tran Thi Hong Tham with the Nanosalt salt project, Dang Thi Tam with the vegetable noodle project;... These projects have exploited the potential of localities, bringing agricultural products, specialties, and local resources into goods, reaching far in the market, thereby creating jobs and stable income, sustainable livelihoods for local people.
Since 2015, when the Government encouraged and directed the creation of all conditions to promote startups, aiming to build a startup nation, Nghe An Department of Science and Technology proactively advised on plans, submitted them to the Provincial People's Committee for approval, and coordinated with the Ministry of Science and Technology to build an innovative and creative startup ecosystem.
In the period of 2017-2020, Nghe An province has established a number of organizations to support innovative startups such as: Establishing the Center for Research - Innovative Startups under Vinh University (2017), Nghe An Startup Investment and Support Joint Stock Company (2017).
In particular, the Provincial People's Committee approved the "Plan to support the development of innovative startups until 2025", opened a co-working space to support training, coaching startups and connecting with domestic and international investors and investment funds. On the other hand, many startup activities were organized such as: Techfest in the North Central region; Investment Festival - Demo Day, Nghe An Hackathon Competition; Nghe An province's innovative and creative startup festival, the "Search for innovative and creative startup talents in Nghe An expansion" contest, talk shows sharing startup experiences, etc.
The startup movement has been gradually integrated into the plans and programs of each industry and locality; creating close connections between startups and large enterprises, leading enterprises in the province to accompany startup projects, guide, support and use startup products. More preciously, many Nghe An children far from home who are successful businessmen have returned to support, guide and inspire young people in their hometown to start businesses such as "King of Northern Fans" Tran Van Le (from Thanh Chuong); CEO Phan Bao Long (from Thanh Chuong) ...
In addition, the province also creates conditions and opportunities to introduce products and promote trade for start-up businesses through activities and a series of events such as: Markets, fairs, exhibitions outside the province and abroad, establishing product introduction centers, signing trade agreements with large supermarket systems; supporting start-up businesses from ideas, product development, business establishment, trademark registration, quality improvement, packaging improvement, etc.
In 2022, Nghe An was honored to receive the title of "Typical locality in building a startup ecosystem" voted by the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Education and Training.
