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#ClosingTheGap Mekong - Venturing into Vietnam

News item | 25-05-2018 | 16:21

The Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF), in cooperation with the Embassy of the Netherlands in Vietnam, partners with Emerging Markets Consulting (EMC), the Mekong Business Initiative, Vietnam Angel Investor Network, and Saigon Innovation Hub to gather local stakeholders in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, to discuss new perspectives on the Vietnamese entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The local stakeholders from Vietnam’s entrepreneurial ecosystem gathered at two workshops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to share their appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of the ecosystem and elaborate together potential solutions to contribute to a more conducive operating environment for local entrepreneurs and their businesses. Conclusions from the workshop are directly incorporated in the final report, which is expected to be published in the third quarter of 2018.

Vietnamese entrepreneurs

The World Bank 2015 Enterprise Survey shows that while nearly a third of Vietnam’s SME sector is composed of small businesses experiencing relatively low rates of annual revenue growth (0-10%), another third is growing very quickly at more than 20% per annum. This is the largest proportion of all countries in the #ClosingTheGap Mekong study. Vietnam also has a small but active community of innovative start-ups and entrepreneurs, as evidenced by growing interest from angel investors and venture capitalists, which made over 90 publicly announced investments in 2017, nearly double the amount of 2016.

Vietnamese entrepreneurs’ needs

Local entrepreneurs of all types recognize the need to increase their ‘entrepreneurial capabilities’, which was categorized as the main constraint to grow their business. As confirmed during the workshop, they require further support in business operations, strategic planning as well as acquiring finance.

Workshop outcomes

Get an idea of solutions that may increase the capacity of the ecosystem for local entrepreneurs and their businesses. Please read the article in English (pdf) or in Vietnamese (pdf).