Communication planning to support the startup ecosystem of The Project 844 Office, National Startup Support Center (NSSC) in the 2019-2021 period

SITUATION OF COMMUNICATION PLANNING TO SUPPORT THE START-UP ECOSYSTEM OF THE PROJECT 844 OFFICE, NATIONAL STARTUP SUPPORT CENTER.... Current situation of communication planning to suppor

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE

BACHELOR THESIS

Major: Economics Specialization: Public Management and Policy in English

Topic Communication planning to support the startup ecosystem of The Project 844 Office, National Startup Support Center

(NSSC) in the 2019-2021 period

VU TRUNG HIEU

HANOI – 2022

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE

BACHELOR THESIS

Topic Communication planning to support the startup ecosystem of The Project 844 Office, National Startup Support Center

(NSSC) in the 2019-2021 period

Student : Vu Trung Hieu Class : EPMP 4

Student’s ID : 11181802 Supervisor : Ms Mac Thi Hai Yen

HANOI, 2022

STATUTORY DECLARATION

I herewith formally declare that I have written the submitted Bachelor Thesisindependently I did not use any outside support except for the quoted literature andother sources mentioned at the end of this paper

I marked and separately listed all the literature and all other sources which Iemployed in producing this academic work, either literally or in content

Hanoi, April 07, 2022 Students perform

Vu Trung Hieu

First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to the National EconomicsUniversity for providing a wonderful environment in which to learn and gainexperience I would also like to express my gratitude to the Faculty of ManagementScience and the EPMP class for providing me with a desirable internship andvaluable job experience I would like to thank MS Mac Thi Hai Yen in particularfor her mentoring and insightful remarks on the thesis

I would also like to express my gratitude to the Office of project 844 – Ministry ofScience and Technology for offering a fantastic internship opportunity andproviding useful knowledge that helped me finish the thesis

Hanoi, 07/04/2022

Hieu

Vu Trung Hieu

TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF COMMUNICATION

PLANNING TO SUPPORT THE STARTUP ECOSYSTEM

1.1 Communication to support the startup ecosystem

1.1.1 Concepts of Communication to support the startup ecosystem

1.1.2 Roles of communication to support the startup ecosystem

1.2 Communication planning to support the startup ecosystem

1.2.1 Goals of communication planning to support the startup ecosystem

1.2.2 Process of communication planning to support the startup ecosystem

1.2.2.1 Analysing the environment

1.2.2.2 Determining the objectives

1.2.2.3 Developing strategic options

1.2.2.4 Evaluating and selecting the optimal strategic option

1.3 Factors impacting communication planning to support the startup ecosystem

1.3.1 External factors

1.3.2 Internal factors

CHAPTER II SITUATION OF COMMUNICATION PLANNING TO SUPPORT THE START-UP ECOSYSTEM OF THE PROJECT 844 OFFICE, NATIONAL STARTUP SUPPORT CENTER

2.1 Overview of The Project Office 844, National Startup Support Center

2.1.1 History of formation and development

2.1.2 Field of activities

2.1.3 Organizational structure

2.1.4 Operational results of the period 2019 – 2021

2.2 Current situation of communication planning to support the startup ecosystem of The Project 844 Office, National Startup Support Center period 2019-2021

2.2.1 Analyzing the environment

2.2.2 Determining the objectives

2.2.3 Developing strategic options

2.2.4 Selecting the optimal strategic option

2.2.5 Deciding communication plan

2.3 Evaluating communication planning to support the startup ecosystem of the Project 844 Office, National Startup Support Center period 2019-2021

2.3.1 Strengths

2.3.2 Weaknesses

2.3.3 Cause of weakness

CHAPTER III: RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF COMMUNICATION PLANNING TO SUPPORT THE STARTUP ECOSYSTEM OF THE PROJECT 844 OFFICE, NATIONAL START-UP SUPPORT CENTER

3.1 Objectives and directions to improve the efficiency of communication planning to support the startup ecosystem of Project 844 Office, National Startup Support Center to 2025

3.1.1 Objectives

3.1.2 Direction

3.2 Recommendations to improve the efficiency of communication planning to support the startup ecosystem of the Project 844 Office, NSSC Startup Support Center until 2025

REFERENCES

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 - Mechanisms and policies that have been in effect and implemented from

2019 to 2021 25Table 2.2 - Objectives of communication plan for innovative startups 31Table 2.3 - Media options for specific missions 35

Figure 2.1 - The organizational structure of Project 844 office (Source: The project

844 office) 23Figure 2.2 - Investment capital for the innovative startup ecosystem in 2019-2021 26

CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF COMMUNICATION PLANNING TO SUPPORT THE STARTUP ECOSYSTEM

1.1 Communication to support the startup ecosystem

1.1.1 Concepts of Communication to support the startup ecosystem

Communication comes from the Latin word “communicare”, which means toconvey, to communicate (Hải, 2018)… Communication is generally understood asthe transmission of information, thoughts, ideas, and knowledge from one or morepeople to others through spoken language, drawings, writing, or a certain act ofcommunication

Communication is a popular social phenomenon, born and developed with thedevelopment of human society, affecting and relating to all people in society.Therefore, this phenomenon has many different conceptions and definitions,depending on the perspective of the media Some communication theorists considercommunication to be the exchange of thoughts or ideas through language Someothers argue that communication is a continuous process by which we understandothers and make others understand us It is a process that is always changing,changing, and responding to situations

According to Barnlund (1962) - a British media researcher, communication is acontinuous process to reduce uncertainty so that there can be more effectivebehavior

Frank Dance (1967) - an American professor of communication studies,communication is the process of making what was formerly the monopoly of one or

a few people into the common of two or more people According to this concept, theprocess of communication can either increase exclusivity, or break exclusivity.Thus, communication can be understood as the process of exchanging and sharinginformation and thoughts between communities of people, and individuals to

at changing the consciousness and awareness of individuals, communities, andorganizations to meet the development needs of society From the above concepts,the most general definition of communication is: “Communication is the process ofcontinuously exchanging information, knowledge, ideas, feelings , sharing skills andexperiences between two or more people to enhance mutual understanding, changeperceptions, and move towards adjusting behaviors and attitudes by the developmentneeds of individuals/groups/social communities".

Communication to support the startup ecosystem

Start-up support communication is a tool to propagate and connect the subjects ofthe startup ecosystem; thereby forming forums and programs to create anenvironment and space for experts, mentors, and start-up support organizations tocome closer to individuals and start-up businesses to discuss and solve problems.solve existing problems in the ecosystem

The government has always defined the task of communication to supportinnovative startups is the annual task of the Project, contributing to connecting theactors of the ecosystem, and spreading the spirit and culture of entrepreneurshipdomestically and internationally Communication plays a very important role insupporting product promotion and attracting investors for start-ups

1.1.2 Roles of communication to support the startup ecosystem

Communicating about the innovation startup ecosystem to promote startup examples and support startups

The task group Communication about the innovative startup ecosystem aims toform a close link between the components of the startup ecosystem, therebypromoting the formation and sustainable development of the startup ecosystem.From the extensive and complete propaganda about the contents related to theinnovative startup ecosystem, it will help the management levels, the businesscommunity, investors as well as the whole society to distinguish between startupswith conventional entrepreneurship; understand the current difficulties of start-upsand the regulations on mechanisms and policies that are hindering start-up

activities… From the right and complete awareness, the management levels willmake the right and appropriate decisions, creating more favorable conditions for thebusiness community to develop.

Media to promote products and business models of innovative start-ups to test, develop markets and attract domestic and international investment

For this task group, communication activities have a role to promote new products,and test products that bring the startup's products closer to commercialization tobring to the market At the same time, the communication work also helps tosupport the attraction of domestic and international investment for innovative start-ups through the promotion of business models

Communication to attract domestic and international investment resources, from large enterprises, venture capital funds, and angel investors for innovative start- ups

This task group has the role of building bridges and raising awareness of the mutualrelationship between enterprises, large corporations, and innovative start-ups.Besides, communication activities will create a bridge in terms of resources(especially, focusing on investment resources, and the ability to provide newproducts/services/technology) between enterprises, large corporations, andenterprises innovative start-ups

1.2 Communication planning to support the startup ecosystem

1.2.1 Goals of communication planning to support the startup ecosystem

It can be seen that innovation startup communication is classified in the category oftasks that help build the foundation and promote the connection of the innovativestartup ecosystem In the startup ecosystem, the media element plays a veryimportant role in providing a source of startup information and connecting startupsand investors Communication plays a very important role in supporting startupideas and projects because once you have a good idea if you do not bring it to thepublic, target customers, and potential customers, is like islands in the middle of theocean that no one knows And communication and making use of the media wisely

and smartly in introducing and promoting the products of startups to customers willhelp projects reduce costs and achieve high efficiency

- Maximizing the involvement of all levels of government, research institutes,universities, colleges, economic, social, professional organizations, experts, andinvestors to support the development of startup activities innovation industry in theprovince; Innovative start-ups are the basis for improving the competitiveness andautonomy of the economy

- Strengthening relationships with start-up communities, attracting investmentcapital from organizations, individuals, and domestic and foreign economic groups;enlisting the support of the State for start-up activities of the province

- Promoting communication on mass media (newspapers, radios, newsletters, ) andespecially on digital platforms; Propaganda to raise people's awareness of theinnovative startup ecosystem

- Encouraging the establishment of incubators, and technical facilities at highschools, colleges, and universities in the province based on a combination of digitaltransformation trends with student research activities

- Strengthening start-up and innovation activities in localities

1.2.2 Process of communication planning to support the startup ecosystem

1.2.2.1 Analysing the environment

Creative start-up activities are with the formation of several startup businesses inthe fields of e-commerce and online teaching After a period of establishment anddevelopment, up to now, the national startup ecosystem has become more and morecomplete, with all important elements such as startup businesses, angel investors,venture capital funds, support organizations, incubators, research parks, networks ofcoaches/consultants, institutions/units that support research and innovative start-ups

at universities, research institutes … of both the private and public sectors.Vietnam's innovation start-up has continued to have rapid development in recentyears

- Strengths: What are the advantages of media about innovative startups? Whatwork does the project do best? What resources are needed and can be used? Whatadvantages do others see? Looking at the problem from your perspective and that ofothers Be realistic, not modest Advantages are often formed when compared withcompetitors.

- Weaknesses: What can be improved? What job do you do the worst? What should

be avoided? The matter must be considered on both an internal and external basis.Other people can see weaknesses that we don't see ourselves At this time, we mustrealistically recognize and face the truth

- Opportunities: Where are the good opportunities? What interesting trends areknown? Opportunities can arise from technological and market changes whetherinternational or narrow, from changes in government policy related to thecompany's field of operation, from changes in the social pattern, populationstructure or structure, etc from events taking place in the area The most usefulsearch method is to review your strengths and ask yourself if they open up any newopportunities It is also possible to do the opposite, examine your weaknesses andask yourself if there are opportunities that arise if they are eliminated

- Threats: What obstacles are right? What are the competitors doing? Have thespecific requirements of the job, product, or service changed? Does technologicalchange pose any risk to the company? Is there a problem with past-due debt or cashflow? Is there a weakness threatening the company? These analyzes often helpfigure out what needs to be done and turn weaknesses into prospects

1.2.2.2 Determining the objectives

Objectives according to the needs of innovative start-ups

The innovation start-up process is long, requiring a lot of efforts and effort from theinnovative start-up enterprise itself, its members, founders, and business executives

At the same time, it is necessary to support external factors such as supportingorganizations, financial institutions, service providers, etc to create resources topromote and help businesses An innovative start-up can overcome the initial

difficult stages (death valley stage), and at the same time, can develop rapidly todominate the market and become a public company.

Some difficulties and obstacles that innovative start-ups often face include:

- The problem of business and management capacity: Most innovative startups inVietnam are founded by relatively young people, with inadequate and weakmanagement capacity Therefore, the needs of innovative start-ups, especially themanagers and founders of these businesses, are huge in terms of training, capacitybuilding, and skills in management, business, and getting the right advisors

- Product and service problems: The products and services of innovative start-upsoften encounter problems that are not suitable and do not meet the needs of themarket Therefore, it is necessary to have advice and support to develop productsand services to suit the market and each stage of development of an innovative start-

up business At the same time, it is necessary to have appropriate financial supportmethods for each stage of start-up

Objectives to meet "Demand for management and policy development"

The implementation of communication to support innovative startups to propagateand develop policies for innovative start-ups still has many gaps that need to befilled More specifically, based on training activities, capacity building,conferences, seminars, seminars, exchanges with planners, managers, andpolicymakers, current urgent needs Communication needs are:

- At the national level, communication for innovative startups needs to address theneeds for institutional and policy improvement, which is especially important

- Addressing the need for capacity building and raising the knowledge andawareness based on building and developing the national innovative startupecosystem due to the ability to deploy and implement policies at the local level isstill very limited, especially with new and difficult content such as starting aninnovation

- Meeting the need for guidance, orientation, deployment, replication and transfer ofmodel models to the locality is relatively large due to the inconsistency among

ministries and specialized branches leading to the lack of local authority know how

to manipulate the text and coordinate implementation

- Addressing the need for a unified orientation, operation mode, and way ofcoordination and association is essential to optimize national resources and mobilizeand exploit domestic and foreign resources in an effective way to promote thedevelopment of the startup ecosystem

Contributing to solving “Needs of financial institutions”

- Thus, the need for an official focal point on innovation start-ups for internationalinvestors to exchange, receive information, and deploy activities in Vietnam due toinvestment procedures is still relatively complicated, the Vietnamese legal systemgoverning investment activities is still overlapping, and the procedures for bringingmoney from abroad into Vietnam and from Vietnam to abroad (for the divestmentprocess) are still complicated complicated and time-consuming

- The need for specific incentives is enforced for investors, both institutional andindividual Although it has been stipulated in several legal documents on income taxincentives for innovation start-up investors, there has been no corridor and guidancefrom tax authorities, so investors have not yet been benefiting Therefore,communication has the role of connecting organizations, individuals, and relatedexperts to bring specific policies closer to the actors in the startup ecosystem

Solve a request for information about the startup support community

- The need for general requirements that are oriented for training and trainingframeworks, are internationally up-to-date and must be localized in the specificconditions of Vietnam At the same time, agree on the content and viewpoint ofdeveloping innovative start-ups to localities, avoiding wasting resources in theimplementation of support activities in the future These are important contents thatneed to be widely communicated to the actors of the ecosystem

- About the Service Concentration Area: It is necessary to issue some basic criteria,specifically to avoid each place offering a different type, difficult to connect It isnecessary to emphasize the role of science and technology, innovation, and

intellectual property in the design of training programs, incubation, supportactivities, to avoid mistakes momentum and clearly distinguish betweeninnovative start-ups and traditional startups.

- The need for a team of national and international experts in the National StartupConnection Network to advise local leaders on locating and designing specificmodels for each locality

1.2.2.3 Developing strategic options

Communication activities on innovative start-ups have been given special attention,

as one of the sets of tasks set out and there have been positive developments bothfrom the central to the local level Besides, not only newspapers and online newssites, traditional channels such as radio and television, and new media such as socialnetworks also marked many remarkable results From there, it can be seen that foreach environment, communication tools will have their plans and strategies toimplement:

In recent years, for electronic news channels, communication activities aboutcreative startups on newspaper pages, especially online newspapers, continue tomark a period of strong development In addition, articles on the topic ofentrepreneurship are reported in related categories such as Business, economics,entrepreneurship, science and technology, news

- It can be said that TV channels are increasingly interested in the field of startups,and this investment has received a positive response from readers

- Social network channel has become an indispensable communication channel fororganizations in the startup ecosystem

- Localities have been more closely involved in startup communication for localcommunication channels, and the units in charge of official communication ofprovinces and cities have all stepped in

- Information pages/platforms are places to aggregate and provide usefulinformation, databases, and knowledge related to startups

1.2.2.4 Evaluating and selecting the optimal strategic option

Using the Pyramid model of Macnamara to evaluate selecting the optimal strategic option

“Pyramid images are useful in communication, basically when a communicationplan begins, implementers will have a large amount of information to gather and awide range of options in terms of media and activities Screening and selection aredone to convey the correct message to the target audience through the appropriatemedia, and ultimately to achieve the specific goals set out.”

In the Pyramid model, the inputs are the parts of the communication programincluding media selection, content, and form of communication tools Outputs arethe documents and activities produced (public media, events, promotional materials)and the process to produce them, while the results will be the effects influence andinfluence of the media A set of assessment techniques for most PR situations –from desk research through media content analysis to observation and quantitativeresearch – is provided

The Pyramid Model provides a list of measures for each stage in the assessment.The feedback loop is not shown in the model, but “it is implicit in this model thatresults from each stage of the study being continuously iterative in planning” Thismodel includes formative and summative research methods to enable data to beintegrated into monitoring and further developing programs to communicate andthus continuously collect feedback during the monitoring process communicationprocess, rather than discrete processes

1.2.2.5 Deciding communication plan

A deciding communication plan will be based on:

Quantitative Evaluation Criteria

Firstly, there are quantitative evaluation criteria such as:

- Number of people attending an event

- Number of people who know the message

- Number of articles published in the mass media

- Number of articles per medium

- Chance to see the message in each media

- Number of times the main message is mentioned

- In which category do the articles appear

Location of the post

- Reception from the public: how many letters/emails/phone calls have you receivedregarding this issue? More or less than usual?

- Which newspapers did the news? Report on which page, which part? Their publicWho is?

Qualification criteria

Is the public's attitude indifferent, concerned, or supportive?

- The importance of the article

- The tone of these articles (negative or positive)?

- Did you achieve the desired image?

- Does the public remember your message?

- The visual effect of the article

The evaluation criteria, or in other words, the goals set out initially, the moredetailed, the easier it is to quantify, and the easier it is for evaluation activities.These goals include the most common goals for the whole campaign and thespecific goals of each program, in each phase

1.3 Factors impacting communication planning to support the startup ecosystem

1.3.1 External factors

Target audience groups – components in the startup ecosystem for innovation

The public target groups in the startup ecosystem include:

- Innovative start-up enterprises: Individuals or groups of individuals withinnovative start-up projects capable of rapid growth based on the exploitation ofintellectual property, technology, and new and innovative business models couldcreate or apply a circular economy model, a sharing economy in advantageousindustries and fields, in line with the capital's socio-economic developmentplanning Innovative start-up small and medium-sized enterprises (with operatingtime not exceeding 5 years from the date of the first issuance of the Certificate ofBusiness Registration, not yet conducting a public securities offering for a joint-stock company) This is the main group of actors in Vietnam's startup ecosystem.

- The Government: Provide legal policies to promote the creation and development

of start-ups, stimulate the spirit of entrepreneurship in the whole society, and guideand encourage the private sector to invest in startups, and technology protection Ingeneral, the government plays the role of orienting, coordinating, and connectingthe components in the startup ecosystem, ensuring that the components supportrhythmically, harmoniously, and synchronously innovative startup activities

- Incubation Center: Organizing startup competitions; organizing the accelerationprogram “startup accelerator”; studying curricula and training on entrepreneurship;inviting innovation startup experts to advise and share The Accelerator Program isintended to support early-stage companies by providing training, mentorship, andfunding The startup participates in a fixed program, which lasts for 3 to 6 months.Called accelerator because the purpose behind the program is to accelerate thedevelopment of young startups, in just a few months, helping these startups achievegreat strides that they might otherwise take only a few years can be achieved if theylearn and do it on their own It can be said that an incubation and training center is acomponent capable of gathering all resources to support startups methodically andprofessionally This is also the place that has the closest support in all aspects forstartups compared to the rest of the startup ecosystem

- Capital investment organizations (investment funds, angel investors, seedinvestors, venture capitalists, financial intermediaries, etc.): Private equity fundsand investors Angel investors seek investment opportunities in the most viable start-

ups Private investors have a remarkable ability to coach startups Local investorsare extremely important to startups, as they often seed funding for founders andhelp promising startups connect to global capital flows later on.

- Research and education organizations (universities, research institutes, ):Consulting and providing professional knowledge and quality human resources forstart-ups; supporting start-up businesses to manufacture and test products; traininginnovative thinking and entrepreneurship for students; organizing contests to findstart-up ideas

- Service providers (legal services, financial institutions, media, infrastructure, ):Organizations providing legal services such as lawyers, and law consulting firmshave The role of supporting a Startup in starting a business, registering andprotecting intellectual property rights, solving problems related to legal procedures

in the process of business operation, providing legal advice and necessary policiesfor startups Startups financial/credit institutions provide funding and help andadvise Startups on financial management Media units have the role of changing theconsciousness of the whole society in business, start-up, and innovation in allaspects; bringing a Startup's products/services closer to the public; is a channelconnecting factors and components in the Startup Ecosystem Infrastructurenetwork, co-working provides a workspace for startups and a venue for eventsrelated to startups

Globalization

Globalization is causing a definite development pattern to emerge As economiesbecome more intertwined, they are moving toward a global economic system.Exchanges across company cultures have occurred as a result of globalization,bringing new values to each country's corporate culture, as well as learning how toaccept the rules of the game and similar values to collaborate for development Atthe same time, the historic cultural values of the countries are reawakened, honoringthe country's name in the global market The growth of global and multinationalfirms and organizations helps not only the global economy's overall success but alsothe formulation of management and business standards Furthermore, major

corporations that join each country's market attempt to absorb the local culturalquintessence to easily infiltrate the market, win customer trust, and enrich anddeepen the market Include the company's business identity To compete effectively,players will need to establish a culture of flexibility and high trust if the globaleconomy accelerates business environment change and elevates cultural norms.The social and cultural environment of the enterprise

The socio-cultural environment of the enterprise is the ongoing socio-cultural factor

in the area in which the enterprise operates, which affects the business performance.People always live in the specific cultural environment of the region, the specificity

of each group of people mobilizes in it, and moves in two directions, which is toretain the cultural quintessence of the region's ethnic groups, and the other the other

is to integrate with other cultures, to reach out internationally

Managers must know how to master both of the above trends to have a solution topenetrate the manufacturer's products appropriately into each type of market withdifferent cultures, regional cultures are often studied by businesses Researchcarefully before launching the product For international products, only step-by-steppenetration or taste adjustment is required to successfully penetrate new markets

1.3.2 Internal factors

Institutions and economic policies

Political institutions, economic institutions, cultural institutions, governmentpolicies, legal systems, and so on are all facets of the business environment thathave a substantial effect on corporate culture formation In a market economy,businesses must execute operations to increase revenue while lowering expenses.Businesses must have the knowledge and culture to successfully exploit and uselimited resources like money, labor, natural resources, and so on to do so

At the same time, businesses will form their own cultural identities based on theinheritance of humanity's good cultural values, and the nation's precious traditionalvalues, and embody those values in the products they produce and the way theycommunicate through their relationships with customers, suppliers, competitors,

local governments, and society Businesses achieve not just their objectives andrevenues, but also make progress toward long-term sustainability.

From a network of experts: expert support can only reach a part of the national

startup ecosystem, not each locality

Local communication: In addition, in many localities, the startup ecosystem is just

starting to form, leading to not much information to convey to the people

National technical and technological environment:

With the influence of technological factors on corporate governance, enterprisesthat have technical and technological conditions and apply them early in productionand business will gain great advantages in terms of quality and productionspeed .from there exist and develop

Almost all goods and products of the modern world are created based on scientificand technological achievements or inventions It can be said that the higher thetechnology, the higher the product value in proportion

CHAPTER II SITUATION OF COMMUNICATION PLANNING TO SUPPORT THE START-UP ECOSYSTEM OF THE

PROJECT 844 OFFICE, NATIONAL STARTUP SUPPORT

CENTER

2.1 Overview of The Project Office 844, National Startup Support Center

2.1.1 History of formation and development

The project "Supporting the national innovative startup ecosystem until 2025"(referred to as Project 844) (Đề án844, 2020) was approved by the Prime Minister

in Decision No 844/QD-TTG dated May 18, 2016, assigned to the Ministry ofScience and Technology to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate withministries, branches, localities, and socio-political organizations in implementing.The Project 844 Executive Board is an organization with the function of orientingthe implementation and participating in the inspection, supervision, and evaluation

of the implementation of Project 844 The Project 844 Executive Board includesleaders of ministries and agencies, socio-political organizations and representatives

of investors, and prestigious domestic and international support organizations Project 844 has the goal of creating a favorable environment to promote and supportthe formation and development of fast-growing businesses based on the exploitation

of intellectual property, technology, and new business models; urgently perfectingthe legal system to support innovative start-ups; establishing the NationalInnovation Startup Portal

2.1.2 Field of activities

The Initiative for Startup Ecosystem in Vietnam (ISEV) (Đề án844, 2020) wasapproved by the Prime Minister in Decision 844 signed on the 18th of May, 2016,and assigned to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) to head itsimplementation The Initiative has the goal of creating a favorable environment for

the creation and growth of new enterprises with high growth potential based onIntellectual Property (IP), a new business model by: (1) Establishing and improvingthe legal framework for supporting startups; (2) Creating of a national Startupportal; (3) Supporting startup projects.

To achieve these goals, in 2018 ISEV will provide funding for intermediaryorganizations that perform activities that fall into 3 areas:

- Research, propose and establish legal frameworks that relate to the activities ofstartups

- Train and develop the capabilities of players in the innovative startup ecosystem

- Communicate and network with stakeholders in the innovative startup ecosystem.National Startup Support Center:

- Scientific research, propose solutions to support innovation startups, promote thedevelopment of the startup ecosystem;

- Cooperation and association to mobilize and exploit domestic and foreignresources on digital platforms, virtual reality, and augmented reality to support theinnovative startup ecosystem;

- Seeking and supporting technology transfer and capacity building of innovativestart-up organizations, individuals, and businesses; consulting, guiding, supportingthe establishment, and connecting activities of domestic innovation startup supportorganizations with the international community;

- Organizing conferences, seminars, and scientific seminars for start-ups; providingservices and consulting to promote the development of innovative start-ups;

- Implementing the organization of the National Innovative Startup Festival(TECHFEST);

- Deploying propaganda and promotion activities about global technology trends;exploiting the results of performing scientific and technological tasks related toinnovative start-ups

2.1.3 Organizational structure

The organizational structure of Project 844 office

(Source: The project 844 office)

Figure 2.1 - The organizational structure of Project 844 office

Director of Project 844 Office: Managing and operating general activities of Project

2.1.4 Operational results of the period 2019 – 2021

Enhance the subject capacity of the startup ecosystem

By the end of 2019, Project 844 (Nam, 2021) has supported the organization of 244training courses on innovation startups for more than 23,000 people in the startupecosystem Which, the group of individuals and start-up businesses accounted for36% of the total training courses; the force of local managers, socio-politicalorganizations, educational institutions, and incubators accounted for 30% of thetotal number of training courses; The rest is a team of trainers and mentors to startinnovation These activities have contributed to capacity building, connecting expertnetworks with organizations supporting innovation start-ups, and supporting localofficials in advising and promulgating mechanisms and policies to supportinnovative startups timely

In the period 2018-2019, nearly 2,000 individuals from innovative start-up groupsand enterprises were trained through theoretical and practical training courses Inwhich, about 10% of training innovation start-up groups/enterprises continue toparticipate in business promotion programs, connect with supporting organizationsand investors to develop products, and establish be capitalized by the enterprise orcalled; In addition, potential innovative start-up groups/enterprises were alsoproposed by the unit and participated in the exhibition booths and finals of theTechfest contest organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology

Implement mechanisms and policies to support startups

In 2019-2021, there were 53 provinces/cities issuing Project 844 locally At thesame time, many localities have established innovation start-up support centers,technology incubators, and technology enterprises, of which some centers focus onspecific areas of the region or locality, such as the province Quang Ninh has 02incubation centers for the fields of medical herbs, and fine art ceramics, , BinhDuong province inaugurated the Center for Community Initiatives and SupportingStartups (BIIC)

In the period 2019-2021, Project 844 continues to effectively apply the legalcorridor including mechanisms and policies to support the startup ecosystem:

Table 2.1 - Mechanisms and policies that have been in effect and implemented

from 2019 to 2021

Mechanisms and policies Function

Law 04/2017/QH14 Supporting small and medium enterprises

Decree 39/2018/ND-CP Guiding the Law on Supporting Small and Medium

EnterprisesLaw 07/2017/QH14 Technology Transfer

Decree 76/2018/ND-CP Guidelines for the Law on Technology Transfer

Decree 34/2018/ND-CP Establishment, organization, and operation of the

credit guarantee fund for SMEsDecree 38/2018/ND-CP Investing in startups

Decree 55/2019/ND-CP Legal support for SMEs

Decree 13/2019/ND-CP Regulations on tax to support SMEs

(Source: The project 844 office’s data)

In addition, the ecosystem also has co-working zones, and incubators, with aspecific supporting environment, creating conditions for start-up businesses As of July

2020, the whole country has about 57 incubators, an increase of 37 incubatorscompared to 2016; 25 programs of business promotion organizations wereimplemented, an increase of 5 times compared to 2016; 186 coworking zones, 10 timesmore than 2016

Investment capital for the innovative startup ecosystem in 2019-2021

If 2019 saw the explosion of innovative start-ups, in 2020, due to the impact of theCovid-19 epidemic, Vietnamese startups will face many difficulties Totalinvestment capital for startups in Vietnam in 2020 is estimated at 310 million USD,less than half of 2019.

In 2021, despite the complicated developments of the COVID-19 epidemic, thefinancial source of investment for creative startups in Vietnam has increasedunprecedentedly More than 1.3 billion USD has been recorded in investment forVietnamese innovative start-ups (the highest ever)

(Source: The project 844 office’s data)

Figure 2.2 - Investment capital for the innovative startup ecosystem in

2019-2021

2.2 Current situation of communication planning to support the startup ecosystem

of The Project 844 Office, National Startup Support Center period 2019-2021 2.2.1 Analyzing the environment

The early generations of Vietnamese startups such as VNG, VCCorp, Yeah1, andNexrTech have all achieved certain successes in their fields and have a foothold in