The Rise of Vietnamese Tech: Unlocking the Potential of Capital Markets for “Unicorn” Startups
In today’s digital era, Vietnam recognizes the pivotal role of science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation as key drivers of its economic growth and national advancement. The Politburo’s Resolution No.57-NQ/TW, issued on December 22, 2024, underscores this by emphasizing these areas as “top priority breakthroughs” for the nation’s new growth model. At a recent workshop on the capital market’s role in fostering Vietnamese tech firms, Minh highlighted the importance of a robust capital market in nurturing innovation among technology businesses. Leading economies such as the US, China, and Singapore have successfully developed their capital markets to enable startups to secure funding through Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), thus creating “unicorns” – startups valued at over 1 billion USD. Despite Vietnam’s vibrant startup ecosystem, the emergence of “unicorns” has been relatively scarce. As of 2021, Vietnam was home to four tech unicorns: VNG, MoMo, VNLife (VNPay), and...