Vietnam Tech Startups Seek Next Step Forward

 

Vietnam’s technology startups face a complex question: Now what?

The country did not ignore the startup trend of the 21st century. But in the trend’s early days, Vietnam was spending more time and energy talking about technology and its promise.

Now, Vietnam hopes to move to the next step – getting entrepreneurs to meet their economic goals. Startup leaders hope to make a profit, expand internationally or combine their companies with other businesses.

Vietnam has a high literacy rate. Its people, generally, have strong math ability. Both are critical tools for building a technology economy. The country also has a large consumer market, similar to Thailand and the Philippines. And, Vietnam has the potential for high growth rates, similar to Laos and Cambodia.

Low wages and the low cost of internet service help make Vietnam a good place to build a small business. It might be the perfect environment for technology startups.

But, Vietnam needs to act.

“Vietnam usually does copy-paste,” said Lam Tran, leader of the startup WisePass. He says the Vietnamese need to move beyond copying a foreign business and recreating it in the Vietnamese market. Now, he says, it needs to create inside Vietnam and spread the businesses internationally.

WisePass is an app that connects monthly subscribers to restaurant and bar deals. It began in Ho Chi Minh City and Lam Tran plans to expand to seven other countries.

Using good relationships with border countries is a smart plan, say technology business experts. Vietnamese make up large communities in other countries. These communities can help connect the Southeast Asian country to investors², advisers³ and developers in those countries.

Also, technology in Vietnam is increasingly sophisticated.

The Vietnamese Innovative⁴ Startup Accelerator, or VIISA, is one example. For a second year, it has invested in 11 startups.These new businesses have partners operating in countries such as Ukraine, South Korea and France.

Sangyeop Kang is an investment officer at VIISA partner Hanwha Investment. He said he is pleased with the international reach of this year’s group.

“The foreign teams were able to expand their business in Vietnam, while helping⁵ Vietnamese companies with global insights,” Kang said. He added this was a strong move forward for tech startups in Vietnam.

The government of Vietnam is supporting such growth. On January 1, a new law for startups, called Law on Supporting Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, will begin. The law offers new companies financial assistance for office space, equipment and training. It also provides low interest rate loans.

To do more than copy and paste, new businesses must consider how to appeal to Vietnamese people. For example, the startup But Chi Mau makes games that are directed toward Vietnam’s endless drive for education. Another, Market Oi uses motorbike drivers to deliver customized food orders.

MarketOi founder⁶ Germain Blanchet said the question is how to be different from others. The answer, he believes, is to be flexible.

I'm Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

startup - n. a new business

entrepreneur – n. a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money

consumer – n. a person who buys goods and services

copy-paste – v. to recreate another person’s idea

subscribe¹ – v. to pay money to get a publication or service regularly

sophisticate – n. a person who has a lot of knowledge about the world and about culture, art, literature,

flexible - adj. willing to change or to try different things

1 subscribe   

vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助

参考例句：

• I heartily subscribe to that sentiment.我十分赞同那个观点。
• The magazine is trying to get more readers to subscribe.该杂志正大力发展新订户。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

4 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。