Viet Nam an attractive spot for startups: Bloomberg

The article cites a report published in July 2022 by KPMG International Ltd and HSBC Holdings Plc, which states that the number of startups in Viet Nam nearly doubled from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to mid-2022.

Some world's largest investors, including Sequoia Capital, Warburg Pincus LLC, and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, are backing startups offering promising solutions.

Data from Google, Temasek Holdings Pte., and Bain & Co showed that in 2021, Viet Nam had drawn a record US$2.6 billion through 233 private deals, up from US$700 million via 140 deals of the previous year.

According to investment firm Do Ventures, local startups are competing against companies in the same field from Southeast Asia. Investment in startups in Viet Nam accounted for 13 percent of the total venture funding flows into the region after Indonesia and Singapore in 2021.

Bloomberg's article also mentions the Vietnamese Government aims to turn Ho Chi Minh City into a magnet for tech funding. Also, the Government is striving to grow its digital economy which is expected to represent 40 percent of the southern city's gross domestic product.

Thus, the city's authorities prioritize attracting foreign investment to high-tech projects while offering other incentives to lure global talent and international firms to establish innovation research centres.

Experts said Ho Chi Minh City has potential to become the next Silicon Valley.

They are a heavy math and science educational system, a decades-old software outsourcing industry that's created an abundance of inexpensive and talented engineers, and the benefits of Viet Nam's 2021 economic growth - one of the fastest across Asia./.