The event brought together officials from government agencies, finance experts and representatives of technology startup companies, fintech enterprises and investment funds.
The workshop was organised as Vietnam has determined science-technology and innovation as a key breakthrough for the country’s rise in a new era, with Resolution 57 by the Politburo in December last year.
In his opening remarks, Nhan Dan’s Editor-in-chief Le Quoc Minh noted that Vietnam’s innovative startup ecosystem has strongly developed over the past twenty years, with rapid growth in startup numbers and startup support organisations.
However, Vietnam’s capital market has not developed in tandem, failing to provide a full range of financial products appropriate to the specific needs of various subjects in the market, especially technology startups.
According to IDS Director Tran Van, Vietnam currently has several technology companies able to compete in the international market, but they face the hurdle of capital mobilisation to grow their business.
Under Vietnamese law, to float on the stock market, an enterprise has to record profits in the last two consecutive years and make no cumulative losses.
Such requirements are an impassable technical barrier to technology startups as they usually suffer losses during the initial stage due to high costs for research and development.
Therefore, Van suggested relaxing stock market floatation requirements for technology enterprises, which he said is expected to help them mobilise funds without the pressure of making immediate profits.
In addition, with more flexible IPO requirements, foreign investment funds will be willing to pour capital into Vietnamese technology startups, while startups can expand their business, attract talents and develop new technologies, contributing to GDP growth and creating high-quality jobs.
For her part, Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Director of SSI Asset Management, suggested building a dedicated stock exchange for technology companies to allow those without profits to have easier access to capital.
Sharing the same view, Do Minh, Representative of Warburg Pincus in Vietnam, stated that policy modifications are needed to further facilitate startups, help them float on the stock market to accelerate this process, as well as create an exit opportunity for investors.
Speaking at the workshop, Il-Dong Kwon, CEO of Boston Consulting Group Vietnam, highlighted several crucial factors for Vietnam to have more startup unicorns, including market, capital, talent and innovation.
He suggested removing legal and institutional obstacles to facilitate the growth of the capital market while minimising risks and building trust to attract investors.
 |
The discussion session. |
As part of the workshop, experts discussed measures on how to make Vietnamese startups qualified for investment in the eyes of venture capital and private equity funds, as well as how to improve the IPO policy, enhance employee stock ownership plan, and even build a secondary market for startup stocks.
Concluding the event, Nhan Dan’s Editor-in-chief Le Quoc Minh affirmed that as the voice of the Vietnamese Party, State and people, the newspaper will convey the discussed issues to the relevant authorities.
He expressed his belief that taking note of objective and multi-faceted proposals from reality will be an important step for policymakers and state regulators to introduce appropriate policies and successfully realise the set goals.
Under Resolution 57, Vietnam aims to become one of the world’s digital technology centres with at least five digital technology companies with international stature by 2030.
