Ho Chi Minh City stands at the forefront of Vietnam’s startup ecosystem, hosting over half of the nation’s startups, 40 percent of its incubators, and nearly 50 percent of all venture capital investment. With three tech unicorns, over 2,000 startups and a community of 20,000 science and technology professionals, innovation plays a crucial role in driving the city’s economic growth. This is evident from the contribution of total factor productivity (TFP), which has been rising in recent years with science and technology accounting for 74 percent of that growth.
The city also has extensive collaboration with AMD, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Mitsubishi to co-develop technology and strengthen innovation networks. Building on these achievements, the city has set ambitious goals for 2030, namely:
(1) ranking among the top 100 most dynamic global cities for startups;
(2) over 40 percent of businesses engaging in innovation, 45 percent in key industries;
(3) 8-10 percent commercialization rate of scientific research;
(4) 5,000 innovative startup enterprises; and
(5) 16-18 percent annual growth in the number of patent applications.
To realize this vision, the city is building a support framework, combining financial, infrastructural, and institutional mechanisms. Notable policies include:
(1) up to 400 – 500 million VND (approximately 15,700 – 19,600 USD) in seed fund for selected projects;
(2) preferential tax incentives and programs linking startups with global investors;
(3) innovation infrastructure that includes high-tech parks, 18 startup support centers, 55 incubators, 10 innovation spaces, and a network of over 500 science and technology organizations, anchored by the Saigon Innovation Hub (SIHUB) – a central platform connecting government agencies, universities, research institutes, and venture capital funds;
(4) annual events such as Innovation and Startup Week and INNOEX International Forum to bolster the city’s dynamic innovation culture.
The city has also introduced a “two speed” strategy to address the challenge of hardware-software asymmetry, where the city is heavily reliant on imported hardware despite its high growth in software production and IT services, limiting the city’s capacity for high-value innovation.
This strategy will leverage the revenue generated by the software production and IT services to invest in hard technology like semiconductor design. This is complemented by special mechanisms under resolution No. 198/2023/QH15 that will allow such measures as (1) preferential salaries to attract top experts to public science and technology organizations, (2) tax exemptions to encourage innovative startups, and (3) sandbox policy to allow pilot testing of emerging technologies.
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Reference: Sai Gon Giai Phong, 9 October 2025
