Soon turn Nghe An into the country's creative startup center

Science and technology promote creative startups

After nearly 10 years of implementing Resolution 26 of the Politburo, one of the marks ofscience and technologyNghe An compared to other provinces has become a place to discover, nurture and promote projects and ideas.creative start-upIn just the past few years, many scientific innovation and startup movements and competitions in the province have been launched, thereby arousing the intellectual potential of intellectuals, students and entrepreneurs in the area.

Engineer Ho Xuan Vinh - Hoan Cau Company was honored as King of Inventions of Nghe An at a creative startup project. Photo courtesy of the Internet

Mr. Hoang Nghia Nhac - Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology shared: By 2022, Nghe An will be one of the top 5 provinces and cities in the country in terms of support.innovation and creativity. Vinh City is considered the center of startups and innovation of the provinces; not only that, in the districts and towns, innovation clubs have also begun to be launched, creating a ripple effect throughout the province.

To support the startup ideas of entrepreneurs and scientists, many non-state investment funds have been established. In general, innovative startups are focusing on the strengths of Nghe An province, including agriculture, agricultural processing, technology, healthcare and tourism.

Since 2018, Nghe An has successfully organized 4 provincial-level science and technology innovation, startup and innovation competitions and is the host of Techfest 2018 in the North Central region, attracting nearly 400 startup ideas and projects, of which over 30Start-Uphas been operating in Nghe An. The province has been supporting Start-Ups, accompanying and calling for and connecting with sponsors, investors and investment funds with a total sponsorship and investment capital of up to tens of billions of VND.

(Excerpt from the Evaluation Report of the Department of Science and Technology)

Applying digital transformation in cement distribution at Hoang Mai Cement Joint Stock Company. Photo: Nguyen Hai

With the above efforts, in 2018 - 2019, Nghe An had 5 Start-Ups approved by Vietnam Silicon Valley (VSV) for investment and development support with an amount from 10,000 to 40,000 USD/Start-Up. In 2020, the Online TV Project of Gostream Company - Champion of National Techfest 2020 and received an investment of 1 million USD from Vina Capital Fund. The project "Implementing LOCALG.AP standards" participated in the national final round of the Rural Youth Creative Startup Project in 2020. The project "Herbs to protect vegetables and crops - ProSafe" - Second Prize in the National "Students with Startup Ideas" Contest in 2020...

In particular, in 2021, successfully organized the Contest "Looking for innovative startup talentNghe An Expanded 2021" prioritizes startups in the fields of agriculture, medicine - pharmacy, tourism, education - training and pioneering technology. This is the first time the competition has been organized with an expanded scope beyond Nghe An province, attracting 106 projects from within and outside the country to participate.

Leaders of Nghe An province awarded the Special Prize at the "Science and Technology Innovation" Contest in 2021. Photo: Document provided by the Department of Science and Technology.

Along with creating an incubator for the creative startup movement, the province also promotes research, transfer and application of science and technology in fields such as transportation, agriculture, forestry, fishery, medicine; application of new technology and energy saving; step by step development of the market and international cooperation in science and technology...

Although the Resolution's goal of "attracting research and application organizations of science and technology of central and international ministries and branches to locate in Nghe An" has not been successful, Nghe An has signed and cooperated in science and technology with major domestic scientific organizations and institutes. Typical are the cooperation agreements with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, the cooperation agreement with the Central Institute of Economics, the cooperation agreement with Ho Chi Minh City, and cooperation with major economic and technological corporations such as the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group, Viettel Group, FPT Group, etc.

Focus on investing in science and technology as a breakthrough

Sharing with us, Mr. Hoang Nghia Nhac - Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology frankly said: In addition to the above positive aspects, after nearly 10 years of implementing Resolution 26, Nghe An still has a lot to do to make science and technology a breakthrough. One of the limitations is that the province has not attracted and gathered a team of intellectuals and scientists with enough capacity and capacity to advise, plan, plan and research the application of science and technology so that Nghe An can truly become the Center of Science and Technology in the North Central region.

Checking the development of spirulina at the algae production facility in hamlet 6, Quynh Luong commune (Quynh Luu). This is a model of applying science and technology in the field of microbiology in the province. Photo by Tran Duy Ngoan

Despite efforts, up to now the province has not had solutions to attract and promote enterprises to proactively invest in technology and equipment innovation and improve product quality; has not proactively sought output, and balanced supply and demand in a sustainable manner. Communication work, especially communication on new mechanisms and policies suitable for the market economy and the characteristics of scientific and technological activities, has not really received attention; the replication of application models still has many limitations...

Trung Do Nghi Van High-end Materials Production Complex is one of the few projects supported by the National Science and Technology Innovation Fund with nearly 19 billion VND. Photo: Nguyen Hai

In addition, the province's scientific and technological potential and creative capacity have not been aroused and promoted; the province's investment level and capacity have not met development requirements, especially in the high-tech sector. The replication and development of research results from scientific and technological topics and projects face many difficulties due to limited funding. An enterprise applying in the field of aquaculture in Quynh Luu district shared: Scientific research project models are formed and supported by the budget. When the budget runs out, it means that the project will fall into a state of precarious existence or end.

On the other hand, in the field of startups, the representative of the Department of Science and Technology Management, Department of Science and Technology admitted that some projects and startup ideas were initially quite good, but due to the province's support and companionship policies being not yet synchronous and quite limited, they have not been widely applied, the production scale is small and it is very difficult to break through. Most clearly, the projects that entered the final round of the Creative Startup Competition in recent years, each year there are hundreds of projects with quite good ideas, but the number of projects that become reality, have brands and survive can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Applying mist irrigation technology is both effective and water-saving in agricultural production in Quynh Lien commune (Hoang Mai town). Photo: Nguyen Hai

Besides, in fact, the application of science and technology in our province in the field of agricultural production mainly focuses on the application of technical advances in plant and animal varieties, there has not been much application of information technology, production automation, biotechnology, and advanced farming processes.

The lack of coordination and management among sectors has limited the effectiveness of applying scientific and technological products; remote areas have not really paid attention to measurement standards, product quality, intellectual property, and product branding; the quality and intellectual content of products are still low, and market competitiveness is quite limited. The province does not have high-tech industrial parks or high-tech agriculture to attract high-quality, highly-skilled human resources to work...

Enterprises in the agricultural sector are researching the application of technology in packaging production and printing labels for products. Photo courtesy of Nghe An Newspaper

Digital transformation is becoming more and more widespread, so along with solving the problem of human resources, businesses need to prioritize investment in digital transformation. Currently, Nghe An has over 95% of small and medium-sized enterprises, digital transformation and technological innovation require a huge amount of funding. However, in the context that the provincial budget for science and technology is only 0.2 - 0.3% of the budget, equivalent to 45-50 billion VND/year, much lower than the regulation (2%); each project to innovate science and technology infrastructure is only supported with a maximum of 700 million VND and each year only 3-5 businesses are supported, so this is a pressure on the industry.

Thien Minh Duc Joint Stock Company signed a commitment to sponsor 2.5 billion VND for a creative startup project in Nghe An that won a prize at the competition. Photo courtesy of the Department of Science and Technology.

Mr. Tran Quoc Thanh - Director of the Department of Science and Technology shared: The fourth industrial revolution (4.0) and digital transformation create great changes in the production force. To adapt, new awareness and high determination of managers and the whole society are needed. In the coming time, for Nghe An to become aCenter for Creative Entrepreneurshipof the whole country as the province's target and science and technology is really a breakthrough, the content of science and technology accounts for a high proportion in product value, it is necessary to increase investment resources and the State must create an innovative and creative startup ecosystem to encourage people and businesses to participate more actively.