ĐÀ NẴNG — The Government of Việt Nam is strongly committed to protecting intellectual property rights and providing capital to help young people realise their start-up dreams in the future.

That was the message from Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc at the opening ceremony of the national start-up day ‘Techfest 2018’ in the central city on Thursday.

He stressed that start-up programmes will help the country reach its target of each person earning US$18,000 per year by 2045 when Việt Nam celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Independence.

Phúc said start-up programmes in Việt Nam have achieved good results with 93 Vietnamese start-ups worldwide, but the figure still has room to grow.

He said the innovation in start-up programmes is seen as a valuable resource.

“News and information related to start-ups and innovation has been among the top key words searched for on Google in Việt Nam recently.

“It clearly shows that start-up and innovation have become major interest among Vietnamese people,” Phúc said.

“Start-up programmes and centres have been established at colleges and universities and included in the curriculum. The Government also introduced the Project 844 to support start-up ideas among students and young people two years ago.”

The PM also urged young people and students to think big and take risks in turning their desires and dreams in business start-ups.

He said the Government plans to build up a national framework to promote and set up key centres in Hà Nội, HCM City and Đà Nẵng to boost connectivity, innovation and entrepreneurship.

He said the Government will work hand-in-hand with young people to build Việt Nam as one of the most prosperous countries in the world.

The TechFest 2018, entitled ’Innovation, From here to Global’, has 4,500 participants taking part in a series of activities to connect investors with enterprises.

The annual event, which began in 2015, has attracted 40 investment foundations creating 40 business incubator centres and 60 co-working spaces nationwide.

According to a latest report, Việt Nam has 3,000 innovative start-up businesses, and the figure would increase to 5,000 by 2020.

The 2015 TechFest earned US$1million commitment from investors before increasing to $4 million in 2017.

The event continues today with start-up contests, discussions, exhibitions and business matching. — VNS