HCM City (VNA) – The APEC2017 Start-ups Forum was held in Ho Chi Minh City on September 12 to supportmicro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to innovate, integrate andaccess to the global value chain right at their nascent business stage.

Vo Tan Thanh, Vice President ofthe Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said Vietnam is evaluatedas one of the most entrepreneurial countries in the world. The VietnameseGovernment aims to have at least one million effective bussinesses by 2020, henoted.

The selection of Ho Chi Minh Cityas the venue of the APEC 2017 Start-ups Forum is reasonable since the southerneconomic hub is striving to build itself into a start-up urban centre with theestablishment of 500,000 enterprises through 2020.

Deputy Minister of Science andTechnology Tran Van Tung said the increasing number of new bussinesses – whichhit a record of more than 110,000 in 2016 – is expected to create more jobopportunities and social services.

Besides quantity, equalattention should be paid to the quality and health of bussinesses so that moreinnovative start-up firms will be set up in the future, he said.

He called on major groups such asViettel, FPT and Truong Hai Auto Corporation to provide pragmatic support forstart-ups in Vietnam.

During the forum, participantsdiscussed a wide range of topics such as innovative start-ups in the digitalera, education and training on entrepreneurship, business services forstart-ups, and acceleration of sustainable socio-economic growth.

Through sharing experiences, ideasand tools to support start-ups, APEC member economies look to form a dynamic andnetworked APEC Start-ups Community.

Initiatives raised at the eventwill be discussed to propose a Joint Statement on promoting start-ups and MSMEsto the upcoming APEC Small andMedium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting (SMEMM) in the city on September15.

MSMEsaccount for over 97 percent of all enterprises and employ over half of theworkforce across APEC economies. MSMEs contribute significantly to economicgrowth, accounting for between 20 percent and 50 percent of GDP in most APECeconomies. However, they account for only 35 percent or less of direct exports. 

Establishedin 1989, APEC comprises 21 economies, including Australia, Brunei, Canada,Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea,Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russ🌊ia,Singapore, Chinese Taiwan, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.-VNA