Opinion: 4 things that are making Vietnam’s startup future brighter

Thứ 6 - 04-05-2018

The following is an edited excerpt from the book Startup Vietnam: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Socialist Republic.

Vietnam’s advantageous place in the hyper global economy of the future isn’t assured—not by a long shot. But the country has a strong potential to make its mark in the world.

The country’s greatest strength, its human capital, has thus far leveraged the benefits of globalization via low-wage manufacturing and the low cost of mobile computing, complemented by increasing access to the internet. But this manufacturing and outsourcing model is reaching its limits. So, Vietnamese entrepreneurs and companies must find new ways to create, add value, and move up the value chain at home and abroad to remain competitive in the global economy. Whether or not this happens largely relies on the foresight, vision, and commitment of leaders in both public and private sectors.

International education for its youth
The youth have embraced international education experiences and the latest cultural trends from South Korea, Japan, and the United States. Presently, there are more than 130,000 Vietnamese students studying at institutions of higher education outside of Vietnam (mostly in Japan and Australia) at a collective price tag of over US$1 billion.

These young Vietnamese are bright, optimistic about the future, talented, eager to learn, and focused on improving their socioeconomic conditions. This current generation may unlock the full potential of Vietnam’s human capital resources, as they understand both local and international norms and seamlessly transition between them.

These graduates are interested in working with and learning new techniques, best practices, and new skills from foreigners and are candid about the challenges ahead for today’s Vietnam, having witnessed the visions of other societies in relation to their own. These are largely positive signs—especially the attitude toward daunting and unknown challenges—because not everyone is positively impacted by globalization.

An engineering nation
With more than 100,000 engineers produced in Vietnam per year, Vietnam has a competitive advantage that places it in the top 10 countries for engineering output. It would stand to reason that some of these engineers would go on to found companies and become incredibly successful in the process.

According to a 2015 policy brief by the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), these engineers are fueling Vietnam’s “app economy.” It declared that Vietnam has “the top-rated app economy in Southeast Asia (including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines).”

This advantage may enable Vietnam to grow its economy on the creation of apps by keeping Vietnamese employed or by developing homegrown intellectual properties, which offer greater value than outsourcing projects. It’s less capital-intensive to become an app hub than a manufacturing hub, after all. Thus, according to the PPI, Vietnam may be in the “early stages of a virtuous cycle,” where the demand for app economy personnel leads to more workers getting app development training.

Fast-growing economy
Looking ahead to the midpoint of the 21st century, a recent PwC report identified Vietnam as potentially one of the three fastest-growing countries in economic terms (along with India and Bangladesh) between 2017 and 2050. By 2030, Vietnam is expected to be a top-30 economy, valued at US$1.3 trillion, up from approximately US$595 billion today (on a purchasing power parity).

Moreover, Vietnam ranked 47th out of 127 economies (and third in ASEAN behind Singapore and Malaysia, respectively) with a score of 38.3 in the Global Innovation Index (GII), published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The country also has some of the fastest-growing cities in the world. Ho Chi Minh City, with a population of 7.3 million in 2015, is the fourth largest city in Southeast Asia behind Manila, Jakarta, and Bangkok, respectively. And the population is still predicted to increase to 9.2 million by 2025.

According to the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects, Hanoi is also expected to increase its population from 3.6 million in 2015 to five million in 2025. Vietnamese cities such as Can Tho, Bien Hoa, Hai Phong, and Da Nang will all experience double-digit population increases by 2025 as well.

Robust internet and smartphone usage
What do the current internet and smartphone spaces look like in the country today? Here are some interesting statistics:

In 2014, only 41 percent of all mobile phones shipped to Vietnam were smartphones. But by 2016, that number rose to 67 percent.
Today, more than 60 percent of Vietnam’s population is online.
By 2015, Vietnam had more internet users than any other country in Southeast Asia.
About one-third of the population accesses the internet via mobile and this number is expected to increase.
3G and 4G coverage is expected to be available for 95 percent of residential homes by 2020.
Continued investment in Vietnam’s telecommunication networks—projected to be worth more than US$10 billion by 2022—will be vital to fostering communication, commerce, and collaboration between Vietnam, its different regions, and the world.

Conclusion
Moving toward the future, new business models—with an emphasis on transparency—and technological innovations, such as blockchain, will accelerate the leapfrogging of Vietnam’s economy, as people continue to flock to urban centers.

In particular, fintech has the power to enable the participation of underbanked and unbanked consumers in Vietnam’s formal economy. This focus on financial inclusion, combined with systemic reforms and investments in education, innovation, and best practices, could further propel Vietnam’s GDP growth rate even beyond the most favorable current projections.

By Andrew Rowan/ TechinAsia

Các tin khác

Ăn bưởi giúp làm giảm mỡ bụng

12-06-2015

Từ xưa đến nay, nhiều người truyền nhau kinh nghiệm ăn bưởi để giảm cân và không ít người thành công với phương pháp đó. Và việc giảm cân bằng bưởi đã có khoa học chứng minh. Theo tiến sỹ Ken Fujioka, làm việc tại bệnh viện Scripps, San Diego và là trưởng nhóm nghiên ...

Xem thêm

Khám phá phong cách ẩm thực Tex - Mex tại Wild horse Sài Gòn

19-01-2016

Điểm nổi bật của Wild Horse là sự hoà trộn giữa phong cách phục vụ kiểu Mỹ và thực đơn kiểu Mexico. Thực đơn nhà hàng nổi tiếng nhất là các món bò nhập từ Mỹ, Australia và kế đó là các món ăn chế biến từ hải sản. Một trong những món ngon có thể kể ở đây là ...

Xem thêm

Đặc sắc ẩm thực Hàn Quốc tại Mojo Café

30-06-2015

Thực khách yêu thích nền ẩm thực vốn nổi tiếng vừa cầu kì trong cách chế biến và trình bày vừa đậm đà hương vị và rất hợp khẩu vị với nhiều thực khách châu Á đừng bỏ lỡ cơ hội thưởng thức thực đơn ẩm thực Hàn Quốc đặc biệt trong tháng 7 tại Mojo Café ...

Xem thêm

Smart Contract là gì ?

09-05-2018

Smart Contract (Hợp Đồng Thông Minh) là một thuật ngữ mô tả khả năng tự đưa ra các điều khoản và thực thi thoả thuận của hệ thống máy tính bằng cách sử dụng công nghệ Blockchain.

Xem thêm

7 cách để tránh bị xao lãng

16-01-2016

Rõ ràng rằng chúng ta đang sống trong một thế giới rối bời, một thế giới gây mất tập trung hơn bao giờ hết vì sự tiến bộ của công nghệ. Và không ai trong số chúng ta thực sự được dạy về cách làm thế nào để tập trung vào những thứ quan trọng

Xem thêm

Sản lượng cà phê của Ấn Độ giảm xuống mức dưới 300.000 tấn trong năm 2017-2018

08-05-2018

Theo Hội đồng Cà phê Ấn Độ, sản lượng cà phê của nước này trong năm mùa vụ 2017-2018 (kết thúc vào 9/2018) sẽ sụt giảm trung bình khoảng 20% và đạt dưới 300.000 tấn (cụ thể dao động từ 290.000 – 300.000 tấn), do sản ...

Xem thêm

Danh mục liên quan

Cao hồng sâm Hàn Quốc hộp sứ xanh cao cấp 1kg

Liên Hệ

Kết nối với chúng tôi

Facebook