TECHFEST VIETNAM 2020 –

THE DETERMINATION OF VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT TO CONNECT RESOURCES, PROVIDING A SPRINGBOARD FOR INNOVATIVE STARTUPS

TECHFEST VIETNAM 2020 will be occurring from November 27-29th in Hanoi in the form of a hybrid event. This is the largest annual event for the innovative startup community in the country, organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam. Taking place amid the global disruption caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, the event is an opportunity for the government to display the dynamism of the Vietnamese startup ecosystem, an emerging nation eager to cooperate with international partners to develop and promote science, technology, and innovation.

Themed “Adaptation – Transformation – Breakthrough”, TECHFEST 2020 will be structured into 12 technology villages that are expected to have at least 250 booths from potential startups and attract nearly 300 local and international investors, 150 corporations, enterprises and startup supporting organizations to attend both virtually and physically. Notably, social impacts on innovative startups’ solutions and business models will be clearly presented in the Social Impact Technology Village, which will be coordinated by the United Nations Development Program Viet Nam (UNDP Vietnam). In 2020, the Ministry of Science and Technology will also coordinate with partners to organize a High-Level Policy Dialogue, in which the Government leaders will hold a discussion with the innovative startup community on how to solve difficulties in conducting business and create a favorable environment for the growth of startups.

TECHFEST is a series of events which are held annually at regional, national, and international level to connect and gather resources in support of the innovative startup ecosystem in Vietnam. After 06 years of implementation, TECHFEST regional events have been organized in 15 provinces in Vietnam. On a national scale, the event has attracted the participation of about 30,000 footfalls, of which international experts and investors account for well over 40%. In 2019, for the first time, TECHFEST, which was held on an international scale in 03 developed ecosystems: the United States, South Korea, and Singapore, facilitated 20 prominent Vietnamese startups to access the global market and connect with more than 100 international investors. In sum, there are about 500 local and international investors from different investment funds attending TECHFEST with approximately 700 investment matchings whose total values were up to nearly 20 million USD. Among the startups connected, Abivin, the champion of TECHFEST 2019, was chosen to participate in the competition and then won in the international arena called Startup World Cup 2018.

Innovative startups, corporations/large enterprises, experts, investors/investment funds, and international innovative startups supporting organizations are encouraged to participate in, utilise networking opportunities from TECHFEST to demonstrate technology solutions, connect with investors/investment funds, engage in the high-level policy dialogue, share experiences/know-how… via the website: techfest.vn.

TECHFEST VIETNAM 2020 will take place from November 27-29 at the National Economics University, Hanoi, with highlighted programs such as exhibition including 250 booths from 12 technology villages, one-to-one investment matching with more than 300 local and international investors in both offline and online platforms. Furthermore, large-scale seminars and forums with nearly 5000 participants will also be held along with special technology performances and other distinguished competitions.

Techfest Vietnam is considered as the largest festival for innovative startups in the country, which is hosted annually by the Ministry of Science and Technology in the implementation of the National Project “the Initiative to Support Innovative Startup Ecosystem in Vietnam until 2025”(Project 844). A growing list of programming content is already lined up under 12 main interest clusters:

1. Medical Technology Village (MedTech)
2. Agricultural Technology Village (AgriTech)
3. Educational Technology Village (EdTech)
4. Tourism and Food Technology Village
5. Frontier technology village
6. Financial technology village (FinTech)
7. Smart city technology village
8. Social Impact Technology Village
9. Student Startup village
10. Local startup village
11. Startup support services village
12. International village