He made the remarks on September 7 at a meeting with the start-up business community to review the performance of the Saigon Innovation Hub (SiHub) in the past year, adding that business registration procedures are to be streamlined.
Nhan emphasised that the city has determined productivity enhancement and technology application as the way forward for its growth as the city is deepening its integration and facing greater competition.
Besides private investment, HCMC will consider piloting public-private partnerships in supporting start-up businesses to grow faster in the future, said Nhan.
In 2016, the HCMC government introduced a programme known as 4181 to support small and medium-sized enterprises with the aim of strengthening start-up and innovation capacity through scientific and technological research.
Director of the HCMC Department of Science and Technology Nguyen Viet Dung said SiHub is Vietnam’s first model of government support for start-ups and innovative businesses in the form of connecting and sharing resources.
Thanks to the assistance of the Asian Development Bank, SiHub was established with the mission of promoting and building HCMC into a start-up city of Southeast Asia.
In the past year, SiHub has implemented many activities to realise Programme 4181 such as bringing STEM education to nearly 490 schools and supporting 11 universities in forming their own start-up programmes.
SiHub also helped with organising events to connect elements of the start-up ecosystem, between start-up groups with consultants, investors and international organisations.
