Directive No. 9/CT-TTg on creating favorable conditions for innovative startups

DIRECTIVE

On creating favorable conditions for innovative startups^[1]

The Government’s Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP of January 1, 2020, on major tasks and solutions to implement the socio-economic development plan and state budget estimates for 2020 stated that improving the investment and business environment, raising national competitiveness, developing enterprises in terms of quantity, scale and quality, stepping up enterprise restructuring, and promoting innovative startups are considered solutions to make strategic breakthroughs, and renew in-depth growth model on the basis of applying cutting-edge technologies, increasing labor productivity, efficiently tapping resources and raising the resilience of the economy.

However, feedback from the innovative startup community showed that the country’s innovative startup ecosystem is still facing many difficulties, barriers and poor competitiveness compared with other regional countries. These limitations are attributable mainly to the following reasons: the business environment is not favorable enough for startups; provisions on business conditions fail to meet requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution; there lacks support in physical foundations for research activities; state budget funds for startups are limited with complicated procedures; a legal corridor for new products and services is not yet available; and technological human resources are insufficient in quality and number.

In order to create favorable conditions for innovative startups, the Prime Minister requests ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees to focus on directing and organizing effective implementation of the following solutions and tasks:

I. SOLUTIONS AND TASKS

1. The Ministry of Planning and Investment:

a/ To urge and request local business registration agencies to provide detailed guidance on and assist innovative startups in checking and including business lines of enterprises which are not yet listed in business line codes under current regulations in the national database on business registration.

b/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries, sectors and agencies and the National Assembly’s Committee on Economic Affairs in, proposing the Government to revise the Law on Investment toward creating favorable conditions for foreign investors to establish, contribute capital to, and purchase shares or contributed capital portions of innovative startup investment funds in Vietnam.

c/ To work on a draft decree on incentive mechanisms and policies for the Vietnam National Innovation Center under the Government’s Resolution No. 99/NQ-CP of November 13, 2019, on the Government’s October 2019 regular meeting, and submit it to competent authorities in the first quarter of 2020.

2. The Ministry of Science and Technology:

a/ To further effectively implement the Scheme to support the national innovative startup ecosystem through 2025, and complete the state management mechanism applicable to innovative startup activities.

b/ To review and build a database on science and technology organizations, research centers, technology incubators, and public and non-public startup and innovation support organizations nationwide; to study and propose solutions to promote the connection and cooperation among those organizations and report implementation results to the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2020.

3. The Ministry of Information and Communications shall study and build a research center and develop a policy to promote the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Vietnam and report implementation results to the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2020.

4. The Ministry of Education and Training:

a/ To study and select some units from those boasting potential for technological innovation and a positive and right start in innovation and startup to assist the development of 3 innovation and startup centers in 3 universities, develop a startup and innovation ecosystem of the education sector, and report implementation results to the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2020.

b/ To study and propose solutions to encourage innovation startup in higher education institutions, and solutions to connect universities and innovative startups, and report them to the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2020.

c/ To study and propose solutions relating to the development of businesses in universities, and promote innovative startup in universities and report them to the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2020.

d/ To direct and support universities in formulating new programs or expanding existing programs on training in new and core technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution; to create training contents and programs to provide students with knowledge of startup and innovation; to develop forms of joint training between universities, research institutes and technology businesses to effectively expand, and raise training quality of, new technology sectors.

5. The Ministry of Finance:

a/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, studying and designing a scheme to set up a transaction floor calling for capital for innovative startups, and report implementation results to the Prime Minister in 2020 or 2021.

b/ To assume the prime responsibility for guiding cost-accounting operations for enterprises investing in innovative startup, companies managing innovative startup investment funds, and innovative startup investment funds, and report implementation results to the Prime Minister in the second quarter of 2020.

c/ To study and implement Clause 3, Article 18 of the Law on Support for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises according to its competence; for issues falling beyond its competence, to report them to the Prime Minister in the second quarter of 2020.

d/ To study amendments and supplements to Decree No. 138/2007/ND-CP of August 28, 2007, on the organization and operation of local development investment funds, toward allowing local development investment funds to invest in innovative startup small- and medium-sized enterprises under Decree No. 38/2018/ND-CP of March 11, 2018, prescribing in detail investment in innovative startup small- and medium-sized enterprises, and  report implementation results to the Government in the first quarter of 2020.

6. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs:

a/ To provide counseling on labor policies (job, wage, social insurance, vocational education and occupational safety) for innovative startups, and report implementation results to the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2020.

b/ To direct schools under its management to increase support for pupils and students in startup activities; to pay due attention to building startup ecosystems in schools; to connect enterprises, researchers and innovative startups to promote the innovative spirit of pupils and students, and report implementation results to the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2020.

c/ To guide and disseminate the process and procedures for grant of work permits to highly qualified foreign workers to work in Vietnam in hi-tech industries, information technology and core technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. To modify vocational training programs of colleges and intermediate schools by promoting training in professional skills; including the innovative startup training contents in training programs; launching programs on training in information technology careers that satisfy the current and future labor market demands, and report implementation results to the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2020.

7. Ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall study and build institutions for business sectors and fields based on existing or potential new technologies, thus creating a favorable legal corridor for technology businesses. For potential sectors with great socio-economic impacts such as finance and banking, to study formulating a regulatory sandbox for businesses to develop and pilot new products and services.

8. Provincial-level People’s Committees:

a/ To instruct local specialized agencies and competent agencies to create favorable conditions for innovative startups to perform administrative procedures for registration of conditional business lines; to strictly handle those causing difficulties to enterprises in the course of performing administrative procedures, including procedures for enterprise registration, investment registration, and registration of capital contribution, or purchase of shares and contributed capital portions.

b/ To study, review and allocate land areas under regulations to form a number of centralized innovative startup space areas to support innovative startup activities.

c/ To accelerate the implementation of innovative startup activities under Decree No. 39/2018/ND-CP of March 11, 2018, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Support for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises; Directive No. 15/CT-TTg of June 15, 2018, on organization of effective implementation of the Law on Support for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises; the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 844/QD-TTg of May 18, 2016, approving the Scheme to support the national innovative startup ecosystem through 2025; and the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1665/QD-TTg of October 30, 2017, approving the Scheme to support pupils and students in startup activities through 2025.

II. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall promptly implement the tasks assigned in this Directive to boost the development of innovative startups.

2. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and agencies in, urging, examining and supervising the implementation of this Directive; and annually summarize and report the implementation results to the Prime Minister.-

Prime Minister 
NGUYEN XUAN PHUC