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| Ms. Tran Thi Thuy Yen, City’s Deputy Director of Science and Technology |
After organizing 10 editions of the City’s Innovative Startup Competition and implementing the Imperial Capital Startup Project for the 2021-2025 period, how do you assess the maturity of innovative startup ideas and projects in Hue?
Encouragingly, Hue’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem has developed significantly over the past periods. The startup movement has not only expanded in scale but also improved in quality.
From 2016 to the present, the Competition has attracted about 600 applications. The number of projects has gradually increased over the years, showing the community’s growing interest in innovation and entrepreneurship. Notably, many projects extend beyond the competition, gradually expanding from local markets to regional and even international ones.
The level of project completion is increasingly high. While most ideas were previously in the early stages; in recent years, many project ideas have been developed into concrete products with strong quality, established branding, and viable commercialization potential. Notable products include: Hue beef noodle spices, Truc Chi, vintage shoes, Hue lotus products, Banh ep Hue (Hue pressed cakes), Sao La essential oils, medicinal products, handicrafts, and specialty foods. This reflects a positive shift in entrepreneurial thinking, as ideas become increasingly linked to market needs.
Parallel to this is the enhancement of entrepreneurs’ capabilities. Through training activities, technology innovation support, intellectual property development, and market connections implemented by the Department of Science and Technology, startup groups have become more proactive in management, product improvement, and business development.
In your opinion, which startup fields and products are showing clear potential, truly reflecting Hue’s unique advantages and identity?
Indeed, the potential startup fields and products in Hue have become quite evident, truly reflecting the locality’s comparative advantages and unique identity. Most prominent is the culture-heritage-creative sector, which leverages the Imperial Capital’s values through innovation. Projects like Truc Chi, vintage shoes with carved court patterns, paper flower paintings, silver-plated ceramics, handmade jewelry from traditional craft villages, fashion from Co bang (grey sedge) grass, macrame in Vietnamese spaces... show the harmonious combination of heritage, Hue fine arts, and modern design thinking.
The agriculture, specialty food, and local product sector also shows great potential, with many projects focusing on brand building and quality standardization, reflecting Hue’s ecological advantages, regional characteristics, and distinctive culinary culture.
Alongside this are products in the sector of healthcare, medicinal herbs, and wellness, notably essential oils and herbal products.
Tourism linked with sustainable development and digital transformation is also emerging, with experiential tourism models, “Net Zero” tourism, and technology applications to enhance service value. Meanwhile, the technology and digital transformation sector has formed software projects, multi-channel management and sales applications, along with development orientation for new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.
The common feature of these fields is that entrepreneurship in Hue focuses on traditional values, local resources, and knowledge, while being renewed through science, technology, and innovation, creating a unique mark and sustainable development capability.
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| Many startup products carry Hue’s distinct identity |
So, what innovative startup “orders” will Hue City need that both deeply leverage culture - heritage and local resources, while meeting the requirements of digital transformation, green growth, and integration for Hue startups?
In the coming period, the Department will focus on commissioning innovative startup projects in key areas. First is culture - heritage - creative industry linked with digital technology, prioritizing projects for heritage digitization, preservation, and promotion of heritage values using new technology; developing creative design products, handicrafts, fashion, Hue fine arts combined with digital platforms, e-commerce, and experience economy.
Smart tourism, green tourism, and sustainable tourism continue to be priority directions. The agriculture, specialty food, and medicinal herb sector is oriented toward green economy and circular economy development. Especially, the Department will prioritize startup projects on digital technology, AI, robotics, and new technologies serving urban management, tourism, education, healthcare, agriculture, and small and medium enterprises, gradually forming technology enterprises capable of participating in regional and international value chains.
One of the “bottlenecks” of startups is product commercialization. In your opinion, what mechanisms, policies, and solutions does the city need to support projects in completing products, accessing markets, and attracting investment?
We clearly recognize that the biggest “bottleneck” in entrepreneurship is the transition from idea to commercial product. Therefore, the Department is strengthening support for product and technology development by integrating promising startup projects into city-level science and technology initiatives, while providing assistance with testing, process optimization, quality enhancement, product standardization, and intellectual property development.
In parallel, the Department supports brand building and market access through services ranging from intellectual property registration and origin traceability to connecting startups with distribution channels, e-commerce platforms, and trade fairs both within and beyond the city. Incubation, advisory, and capacity building activities for startups are also being promoted through collaboration with universities, research institutes, experts, and leading enterprises.
Especially, investment connection and social resource mobilization are emphasized through startup events, Techfest, technology supply-demand connection forums, creating bridges between startups and investors, investment funds, and large enterprises. Potential projects after the Competition will continue to be monitored and supported long-term, ensuring that startups will not stop at ideas but create practical value.
Can you share the major strategic directions for the coming period, aimed at building a sustainable, robust Hue innovation ecosystem with products that have “lasting market impact”?
Hue will shift strongly from movement to quality depth, focusing on selecting and “ordering” projects with growth potential, commercialization capability, and market expansion. The startup ecosystem will be designed to provide continuous support from idea formation, incubation, acceleration, to commercialization and fundraising.
In parallel, Hue will strengthen connections with enterprises, investors, and experts domestically and internationally, while promoting international cooperation in new technology fields, green growth, and digital transformation. Building the “Hue Innovative Startup” brand associated with local identity and market credibility, along with forming support institutions such as innovation centers, innovative startup service centers, and shared research-experimental labs, will create a solid foundation for long-term incubation of science and technology enterprises and innovative startups.
Thank you for the interview!