1.  From the story of the mutual relationship between Turkey's investment promotion and start-up activities

On the website of the World Economic Forum on July 19, 2022, author A. Burak Dağlıoğlu, Director of the Investment Office of the President of Turkey has a rather prominent article being: "Countries need to step in to attract investment in the era of global startups". In the article, the author has demonstrated 02 thesis points about the close "dialectical" relationship between investment promotion and start-up activities as follows:

(1) The innovation startup ecosystem is the main motivation of attracting foreign investment and economic growth in countries around the world.

(2) The strengthening of competition and globalization of the world economy means that competition for foreign investment is stronger than ever between countries. To enhance that competitiveness, countries should establish and develop specialized investment promotion agencies (IPAs) with an in-depth understanding of the current state of their national startups to have appropriate policies for attracting foreign investment.

In short, start-ups will be one of the driving forces to attract FDI; At the same time, the development of investment promotion agencies (IPAs) will effectively support the startup ecosystem of that country.

As proof of the above statement, the author pointed out the success story of Turkish startups in the period 2011-2021 with the result of raising capital of 2.3 billion USD and making transactions with a total value of 6.4 billion USD. Early-stage investments averaging between $100 million and $150 million per year skyrocketed to $1.6 billion in 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. That growth momentum also continues through 2022, reaching $1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2022. This is quite a remarkable achievement for Turkish companies, because just a decade ago, the country's startup ecosystem barely existed.

Through the process of both quantitative and qualitative development of innovative startups, it has created a great attraction for capital from global international investment funds, stimulating the formation of many new FDI projects related to supply chains and related new value chains. Because participating in investing in the innovation startup ecosystem will allow investors to access new and advanced technologies; as well as diversifying its business, shifting towards new industries with high added value.

On the other hand, Burak Dağlıoğlu also presented the role of investment promotion in supporting the development of the innovation startup ecosystem. In particular, the Investment Promotion Office of the President of Turkey has greatly facilitated the connection between startups and international investors, contributing significantly to the development of a network of domestic and foreign angel investors for the innovation startup ecosystem. In addition, through specific multilateral and bilateral investment promotion activities, the Investment Promotion Office of the President of Turkey has connected domestic and foreign venture capital funds with enterprises in the national and local innovation startup ecosystem; thereby creating many growth resources for innovative start-up activities.

2. To the story of investment promotion to support the development of the innovative startup ecosystem of Da Nang city

According to information from the Department of Science and Technology of Da Nang City, by 2022, the city's innovation startup ecosystem has gradually developed and achieved many respectable results. Specifically, the city has established 01 consulting center to support and develop the innovation startup ecosystem, 04 investment funds, 06 business incubators, 10 innovation startup clubs, 02 creative spaces, 09 co-working spaces; 22 universities and colleges have start-up activities... Business incubator systems have incubated nearly 150 projects; 57 enterprises were formed; 50 commercialized products... The city has supported many businesses and start-up projects with a total budget of more than VND 2.8 billion through direct funding for training programs of incubators.

In order to gradually realize one of the goals of Resolution 43 of the Politburo on the construction and development of Da Nang city to 2030, the vision to 2045 is to become a center for entrepreneurship and innovation; Over the years, Da Nang city has built and implemented many solutions to support startup activities in a synchronous way. In particular, the Da Nang City Committee issued Program No. 36-CTr/TU on January 13, 2020 on the implementation of the topic "Developing high-tech industry, building Da Nang into a national innovation and creativity startup center, a world-class creative - science - technology urban area,  highly competitive." On 29/4/2020, the City People's Committee issued Plan 2812/KH-UBND to implement Program No. 36 of the City Committee, with many specific groups of solutions such as: enhancing communication of innovative start-up activities; training to improve the capacity of innovative start-ups; organizing innovative start-up events; building material and technical facilities, focusing on innovative start-up support services; connecting Da Nang's startup network with the region, domestically and internationally, building a network of domestic and foreign angel investors; directly supporting innovative start-ups...

Implement the city's policies on building an innovative startup ecosystem; In recent years, the Investment Promotion and Support Department of Da Nang City has made many efforts to implement the assigned tasks related to integrating the attraction of domestic and international projects and startups to incubation and start-up in Da Nang into the city's investment promotion programs. At the same time, the Board has coordinated with relevant units in calling for investment in the expansion of the centralized information technology park and some supporting infrastructure for the innovative startup ecosystem...

In the first 9 months of 2022, the Board has advised the City People's Committee to promulgate the 2022 Investment Promotion Program of Da Nang city to create conditions to attract domestic and international projects and startups to incubation and start-up in Da Nang. Section 2022 - 2026, oriented to 2030 with 36 projects, as a basis for promoting and introducing investment opportunities in Da Nang city. implement with focus, focus, and roadmap for the promotion and promotion of investment in key projects, under the approved planning.

The Committee has also chaired and advised the People's Committee to successfully organize 14 domestic and foreign conferences and seminars; meetings and working with 60 investors who are interested in the investment environment of the city, conducting field trips, and introducing investment locations. Regularly exchange information, connect and work with Vietnamese investment and trade counselors in other countries, domestic and international trade and investment promotion organizations (VCCI, AHK, JETRO, KOTRA, HKTDC, EUROCHAM, AMCHAM, JCCID ...), multinational investment consulting companies to promote potential,  environment and investment opportunities, cooperation opportunities for key projects and projects. In addition, to better implement the communication and promotion of the city's investment environment, the Board has released a set of documents including Da Nang brochures, and leaflets in priority areas to attract investment: high technology, industry, information technology, education, health, trade, logistics, tourism; the portfolio of projects attracting investment in the city, new construction of Da Nang investment promotion film 2022; conducting research and building digital maps on projects calling for investment in Da Nang city... Through the above activities, the City Investment Promotion and Support Board has contributed to promoting the city's investment environment in general and supporting the construction and development of the city's innovative startup ecosystem in particular.

3. Some suggestions on investment promotion orientation to support the development of the startup ecosystem in Da Nang city in the coming time

The innovation startup ecosystem of Da Nang city, after a process of official formation and development for nearly a decade, has been achieving many respectable results, with some quite successful startups such as Datbike, Cashbag,  BotStar, Hekate, EM&AI... The question is how to have more successful startups, even reaching the level of Asia and the world, with many practical contributions in terms of technology, solving the challenges posed by life?

To answer the above question, it is required that Da Nang city continue to implement the system of solutions and policies issued as mentioned in the second part synchronously. In the framework of this article, we want to emphasize in the aspect of international cooperation to connect the city's startup ecosystem with the world to further enlist foreign resources.

Practice and theory have proven the role of supporting the connection of domestic and international startup ecosystems of investment promotion agencies. Therefore, from the perspective of investment promotion, agencies performing investment promotion tasks need to pay attention, enhance their understanding of the capabilities as well as practical needs set by the innovation startup community to further promote the role of intermediaries in connecting startups and investors,  especially the global investment community is looking for new and sustainable value creation projects in the world. Specifically, some orientations on strengthening investment promotion to support the development of the innovation startup ecosystem can be consulted as follows:

Firstly, further strengthen the cooperation between investment promotion agencies and components of the startup ecosystem, especially innovative startups. In the development of the annual investment promotion program, in organizing promotion activities as well as welcoming large investors to Da Nang, there will be more promotion topics, as well as access to inviting professional and capable international partners on innovative start-up investment. At the same time, creating more favorable conditions for the startup business community to participate in the city's investment promotion activities. And in the opposite direction, from the start-up business community (which can be done through the City Innovation Startup Support Center) it is necessary to periodically provide specific and complete information about the capacity, capabilities as well as the needs of international cooperation,  seek international partners for investment promotion agencies (chaired by the City Investment Promotion and Support Board). Since then, effectively integrated into the city investment promotion program, the content of attracting investment to develop the innovation startup ecosystem.

Secondly, the city has now issued a list of projects to attract investment in Da Nang city in the period of 2022 - 2026, oriented to 2030 with 36 specific projects related to 9 fields. In which, some projects, if implemented, will have a positive impact on creating infrastructure, developing high-quality human resources... for the city's innovation startup ecosystem. Some important projects can be mentioned such as: The project of high-skilled labor training college according to international and regional standards (in the eastern area of concentrated information technology park / Da Nang high-tech park); Creative Space Project (Hoa Xuan Ward, Cam Le District); Project of specialized and auxiliary ICT factory; R&D Zone, Da Nang Concentrated Information Technology Park (in Da Nang Centralized IT Park) ... Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to speeding up the promotion, selection of investors and implementation of these projects in the coming time.

Thirdly, in addition to promoting the implementation of FDI projects in the city (Greenfield FDI), city investment promotion agencies can research and approach in the direction of creating favorable conditions to connect reputable investors, multinational companies participating in capital contribution,  share purchase for domestic start-up projects (one of the forms of mergers and acquisitions (M&A)). Thereby, contributing to improving the quality and quality of innovative start-up projects in the city in the coming time.

It can be said that in the current strong globalization process, along with the impact of the industrial revolution 4.0, innovative start-up activities and economic development investment promotion activities have a dialectical relationship, closely affecting each other. If fully recognized and implemented appropriately, it will bring many new development resources to Da Nang city.  update policies appropriately and promptly to adapt and develop in a global environment with many fluctuations and uncertainties today.

References

- Report on investment promotion in Da Nang city in the first 9 months of 2022

- The state of Turkish Startup Ecosystem 2021 report

- World Economic Forum: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/globalized-startup-countries-attract-fdi/ 

- Danang news: https://baodanang.vn/channel/5404/202210/giai-phap-ho-tro-phat-trien-he-sinh-thai-khoi-nghiep-3927655/

Le Hoang Phuc - Deputy Director of Da Nang Investment Promotion and Support Department