“More foreign investors are coming to Vietnam, but are not able to catch up with the character of the new emerging market |with its unstable policies,” Le Hai Binh, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Electronic Commerce Association, said at the Viet Nam Start-up forum.
The forum was held during Global Entrepreneurship Week, |an event celebrated in more |than 160 countries by 10 million people.
Huynh Viet Phuong, head of the representative office of Viet Nam Internet in Ho Chi Minh city said “challenges for foreign investors are our advantages. This is a strength for Vietnamese start-ups and you don’t need to worry about their money or experience”, although its was suggested start-ups have quality-control measures, know who their customers are and not do business in a hurry.
Around 95 per cent of start-ups in Silicon Valley in the US failed because they did not have the right development trend,” Lucy Keoni, a US start-up expert, said.
She stressed the role of investors and trainers in guiding start-up owners and staff. Binh added: “This is the same for Vietnamese start-ups. Before starting business operations, you should set out your development path.”
Huynh Ngoc Duy, CEO of Mat Bao JSC, said Vietnamese start-ups dare not share their ideas because they are afraid of them being stolen, but it is not fully true.
By 2020, Vietnam plans to have at least 1 million enterprises, with the private economic sector contributing 45-50 per cent of GDP. TRAFFIC’s research has identified e-commerce as an important area to target to reduce wildlife trafficking. The Viet Nam Startup Forum is a key way to reach companies entering the sector.
In June, TRAFFIC conducted a 23-day rapid assessment of the top eight e-commerce websites in Vietnam to determine the prevalence of wildlife sales online. For 30 minutes each day, TRAFFIC searched for wildlife products that ranged from birds and lizards to rhino horn and ivory.
Over the course of the assessment, TRAFFIC found 180 advertisements for wildlife – 64 per cent of which advertised illegal commodities.