Fourteen Taiwanese start-ups joined Taiwan-based corporate and venture partners, as well as Vietnamese expert speakers, at the Taiwan Tech Solution Day in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday.

The event was co-organized by Startup Island Taiwan and the Vietnam National Innovation Center (NIC) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. 

Startup Island Taiwan is a platform established by Taiwan’s National Development Council to support Taiwanese start-ups. 

The event served as an opportunity for Taiwanese entrepreneurs to showcase their technological capabilities and business prowess in the realm of digital transformation in the ASEAN region. 

The start-ups who participated in the event represented a wide array of sectors, including marketing technology, cloud services, fintech, healthcare, Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), smart manufactory, 5G, customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, AI with no/low code, Ed Tech, AI for natural language processing, GameFi, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) exchange.

In addition to showcasing business solutions, the start-ups were also treated to insights into Vietnam’s start-up ecosystem and digital technology transformation.

According to Leo Wu, director of Startup Island Taiwan, Vietnam was the inaugural stop in a series of similar initiatives scheduled for several countries across Southeast Asia.

Elaborating on Vietnam’s start-up appeal, Thomas Lin, start-up ecosystem manager at IT services provider Systex Corporation, pointed out that global capital flows are pivoting away from China to booming markets such as Vietnam. 

Meanwhile, Michael Wu, venture partner at global venture capital firm Hive Ventures, said that Southeast Asia’s expansive market and abundant workforce are a major draw for start-ups.

JJ Lu, co-founder at Sightour Inc., a document processing solutions provider, concurred with this notion.

According to Lu, Vietnam is experiencing swift growth in its local start-up ecosystem. 

When strategizing a series of market expansion initiatives in ASEAN markets, Sightour selected Vietnam, particularly Ho Chi Minh City, as its regional business hub – a choice motivated by the country’s proactive stance toward technological advancement, the high caliber of local talent, and the demographic characteristics of the market, Lu said.

Meanwhile, Cami Lu, operating partner at Sunsino Venture Group, highlighted Vietnam’s product-oriented approach, saying that the familiarity of Vietnamese consumers with tech-based services like Grab and Uber ride-hailing positioned the country as an optimal market for product testing in Southeast Asia.

Evaluating the effects of events like the Taiwan Tech Solution Day, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Dung, a senior expert in research and development at NIC, said they offer opportunities to connect foreign start-ups with the Vietnamese business ecosystem and local resources. 

“On the other hand, we aim to benefit Vietnamese businesses by pinpointing valuable technological solutions around the world that can enhance innovation and productivity,” Dung said.

To illustrate her point, Dung explained that counting is typically done manually in Vietnamese steel production plants, but thanks to NIC, many companies have been connected with start-ups which offer smartphone camera-based solutions to such counting. 

“Once implemented, these solutions become essential tools for these factories,” she said.

The expert added that in its efforts to advance the innovation ecosystem, NIC has coordinated a number of other events similar to the Taiwan Tech Solution Day, which have featured the participation of businesses based in the U.S., Belgium, and South Korea.

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