Prime Minister Chính Urges Stronger Ecosystem for Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Hồ Chí Minh City, The Gulf Observer: Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has called for enhanced policies and mechanisms, particularly in finance and intellectual property, to build a more robust and supportive ecosystem for student innovation and entrepreneurship.

Speaking on Sunday at a conference reviewing the national student start-up support project and launching the 7th National Start-up Festival for Students, PM Chính emphasized that empowering the youth is essential for strengthening the nation.

Describing students as pioneers in science and technology, the Prime Minister underscored their critical role in advancing Việt Nam’s digital transformation and enhancing its position as a regional and global innovation hub.

“Innovation and entrepreneurship must be supported by a well-developed ecosystem,” he said. “We need to spark a movement, create trends, and inspire young people through diverse mechanisms and policies so that innovation yields real benefits for students, families, and society.”

PM Chính stressed that building a start-up ecosystem is a strategic, long-term task requiring comprehensive and fundamental solutions, avoiding both perfectionism and haste.

To this end, the Prime Minister directed ministries, sectors, and localities to:

• Strengthen financial and intellectual property policies;
• Promote public-private partnerships to bring student projects to market;
• Establish support funds for student start-ups from socialised funding sources;
• Develop platforms for idea exchange and mentorship networks at the local level.

He also tasked the Ministry of Education and Training with working alongside other agencies to develop start-up support centres, innovation spaces, incubators, and accelerators in schools. Additionally, he encouraged the integration of entrepreneurship into educational curricula at all levels.

Educational institutions — including universities, vocational schools, and general education centres — were instructed to implement start-up support policies effectively, establish modern laboratories, promote applied scientific research, and expand access to digital learning tools. Schools were also urged to forge connections with businesses and start-up investors and support students in registering intellectual property and commercialising their innovations.

“The State, schools, and businesses must strengthen their collaboration,” PM Chính said. “Businesses should take the lead in investing and guiding students, from practical training to commercialisation.”

He further called on the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union to expand its ‘Youth Start-up’ programme, focusing on four key sectors: information technology and cybersecurity, medical and educational technology, environmental and energy technology, and high-tech agriculture.

Since the launch of the ‘Student Start-up Support Project’ (Project 1665) in 2020, student entrepreneurship in Việt Nam has flourished. Over the 2020–2024 period, students have launched nearly 39,000 start-up projects, including 9,000 from middle and high school students. Notably, close to 300 start-ups have emerged from university-based incubation programmes.

More than 2,000 faculty members and nearly 10,000 students have been recognised nationwide for their contributions to start-up initiatives.

The 2025 National Start-up Festival for Students — jointly organised by the Ministry of Education and Training, the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union, and the People’s Committee of Hồ Chí Minh City — officially kicked off on Friday. It features a range of seminars on advancing innovation in education, fostering entrepreneurship in vocational training, and promoting career guidance through student-focused innovation.

The festival’s highlight is the Grand Finale and Award Ceremony of the 7th “Students with Start-up Ideas” Competition. This year’s edition attracted 775 submissions from students across all levels of education. Of these, 125 outstanding projects were selected for the final round by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Submissions showcased remarkable diversity and real-world impact, with many university-level projects integrating cutting-edge technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Several entries have already achieved commercial viability and are demonstrating promising growth.