Scientific-Practical Workshop "Initiating and promoting the development of an international innovation and startup ecosystem in Ninh Binh - Problems and solutions"

On September 29, Ninh Binh province coordinated with the Ministry of Science and Technology to organize the Scientific-Practical Workshop "Initiating and promoting the development of an international integration innovation startup ecosystem in Ninh Binh - Problems and solutions".

Conference scene.

Comrades: Doan Minh Huan, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Hoang Minh, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology; Mai Van Tuat, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Pham Quang Ngoc, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee attended and chaired the workshop.

Attending and participating in the discussion at the workshop were members of the Provincial Party Standing Committee; leaders of the Provincial People's Council and People's Committee; leaders of departments, offices, and institutes of ministries and branches; experts, researchers, economists , investors, scientists; leaders of departments, offices, branches, districts, cities; and typical enterprises in the province.

Up to now, Ninh Binh is the only locality in Vietnam and Southeast Asia that owns the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex. Immediately after the re-establishment of the province, Ninh Binh quickly changed its development method from Brown to Green. Over the past 3 decades, Ninh Binh province has had strong development steps, most of the province's basic socio-economic indicators are always in the high and fairly good group of the whole country.

In 2024, for the first time, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced the innovation index of provinces and cities, Ninh Binh province ranked 16th out of 63 nationwide. Since 2022, Ninh Binh province has been self-sufficient in budget, from a purely agricultural province, to date, industry and services have accounted for more than 90% of the economic structure. Ninh Binh continues to affirm itself as an automobile mechanical center, a center for processing vegetables, fruits, and soft drinks; restructuring the construction materials industry towards applying scientific and technological achievements to produce green, advanced materials, circular economy; actively promoting energy conversion, attracting investment in green energy projects, and developing environmental industry. The province's service sector has developed strongly, with tourism becoming a bright spot, a safe and attractive destination for tourists, gradually becoming a national and international tourist center.

In Ninh Binh, some components of an outdoor innovation center have been initially shaped with a complex of heritage parks, cultural parks, wildlife parks, wetland parks, night-time economic service areas, live shows, and landscape film studios for filming many famous films, especially Kong Skull Island. A clear strategy has been defined to attract investment in emerging industries and services based on the application of scientific, technological and innovative achievements. Along with that, it is necessary to promote the development of ecological, organic, circular, low-carbon agriculture, promote innovative startups of multi-value agricultural products, integrate agricultural landscape heritage into the construction of millennium heritage urban areas, and achieve rural-urban harmony.

Comrade Pham Quang Ngoc, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee delivered a keynote speech at the workshop.

Speaking at the workshop, Comrade Pham Quang Ngoc, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee affirmed: Thoroughly grasping the Party's policy on developing science - technology and innovation, considering it one of the country's strategic breakthroughs in the context of digital transformation today, Ninh Binh province has gradually restructured traditional economic sectors based on the application of scientific and technological achievements and promoted innovation, accelerated digital transformation, and green transformation. Along with that, it is initiating new emerging economic sectors based on promoting innovative startups - a breakthrough solution to build Ninh Binh into a regional innovation center, including both indoor innovation centers and outdoor innovation centers, on the basis of utilizing, capturing, commercializing, and corporatizing inventions, innovative ideas, gradually innovating the growth model, and restructuring the local economy.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee pointed out: Based on the potential and available advantages of a locality possessing the outstanding global value of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage - Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex, the special value of the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital with its massive, dense, and rich heritage; with more than 40% of the land area being national forests, biosphere reserves, forest land, and wetlands; with the premise of more than 2 decades of transforming production methods from brown to green, Ninh Binh has favorable conditions to accelerate the construction into an outdoor innovation and startup center and gradually initiate an indoor innovation and startup center.

In particular, the Ninh Binh Provincial Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, approved by the Prime Minister, clearly defines the goal: By 2035, Ninh Binh Province will become a centrally-run city with the characteristics of a millennium heritage urban area, a creative city, with tourism and cultural industry as spearheads, mechanical engineering industry as a driving force, emerging industries and services associated with innovative startups as breakthroughs, and multi-value ecological agriculture as a pillar.

This is the legal basis, socio-economic premise, competitive advantage of natural conditions, cultural and historical values to initiate and develop an international innovation and startup ecosystem in Ninh Binh province, continuing to gradually shape a green, smart, circular, harmonious, sustainable, natural development model, keeping pace with the development trend of human civilization, choosing a different path when restructuring the economy, innovating the growth model, integrating into the network of heritage cities, cultural industrial centers, value chains of emerging industries and services based on the innovation capacity of the region and the world.

However, up to now, the development threshold of Ninh Binh province requires a breakthrough in thinking, vision, and development motivation based on the application of scientific and technological achievements and promoting innovation, focusing on commercialization and entrepreneurship of scientific and technological achievements, innovative ideas associated with the synchronous initiation of an innovative startup ecosystem, taking the construction of an indoor innovation center as the core, and the development of an outdoor innovation center as the driving force.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee emphasized that the workshop aimed to consult experts, scientists, and investors to implement the clearly defined goals in the Ninh Binh Provincial Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050. It focuses on 4 contents:

First: General awareness of innovative startups associated with initiating and developing an internationally integrated innovative startup ecosystem in Ninh Binh.

Second: Analyze the conditions, premises, influencing factors, opportunities, challenges, and constituent elements of the innovative startup ecosystem in Ninh Binh to initiate, nurture, and incubate; invest in startups, commercialize, and corporatize scientific and technological achievements and innovative ideas.

Third: The format of innovative startups in a number of fields is highly ready to attract investment in Ninh Binh, especially innovative startups associated with the development of cultural and entertainment industries based on heritage parks and industrialization of traditional industries; restructuring performing arts activities, event organization, and creative design in the direction of creative industries; commercializing and corporatizing ideas, inventions, and patents for emerging industries and services based on digital transformation, big data, artificial intelligence, advanced materials, green energy, biotechnology, nature simulation technology, "green" services, including the field of quantum technology that is forecasted to have great potential in the next decade...

Fourth: Perfecting specific mechanisms and policies to initiate and develop an innovative startup ecosystem in Ninh Binh province, especially building infrastructure, policies on taxes, venture capital, land, public-private partnerships, protection of intellectual property rights, creative ideas, franchising, brand valuation, etc. in conjunction with the requirements of deep and effective international integration.

He hoped that the workshop would also be a strong message to investors about Ninh Binh province's readiness to call for and attract strategic investors to develop emerging economic sectors based on the driving force of innovation and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements.

Comrade Hoang Minh, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, spoke at the workshop.

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Hoang Minh, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, said: The Ministry of Science and Technology appreciates and acknowledges the efforts of Ninh Binh province in supporting creative startups and developing green economy and circular economy. With the regular attention and direction of the provincial leaders, the efforts of state management agencies, especially the creative startup business community, we believe that Ninh Binh's creative startup ecosystem will continue to develop, becoming a center connecting creative startups with international partners, helping Ninh Binh to maximize the advantages of tourism, cultural industry and heritage economy.

The Deputy Minister of Science and Technology hopes that through these activities, the chain of activities to develop the ecosystem, connect localities and regions will continue to be expanded and developed, and the connection between components in the ecosystem will become increasingly closer. At the same time, through this forum, it is expected that experts, investors, and management agencies will truly share and receive practical recommendations, needs, and desires from the community, thereby having practical solutions to "unlock and create" the potential for creative startups in the country in general, and Ninh Binh province in particular.

The workshop included two thematic discussion sessions, a roundtable discussion session and a sharing of practical experiences. Readers can follow the discussion content here:

https://baoninhbinh.org.vn/chuyen-de-cac-noi-dung-ve-xay-dung-quan-tri-van-hanh-trung/d2024092911531572.htm

https://baoninhbinh.org.vn/goi-mo-con-duong-huong-di-de-xay-dung-thuc-day-phat-trien-he/d20240929135049572.htm

https://baoninhbinh.org.vn/thao-luan-cac-noi-dung-chuyen-sau-ve-khoi-nghiep-sang-tao/d20240929165447776.htm

https://baoninhbinh.org.vn/phac-hoa-buc-tranh-tong-the-ve-trung-tam-doi-moi-sang-tao/d20240929172251825.htm

* After a day of urgent and serious work, the Scientific-Practical Workshop "Initiating and promoting the development of an international innovation and startup ecosystem in Ninh Binh - Problems and solutions"   Satisfied   complete the content, program and goals set out.

The Organizing Committee of the Workshop received nearly 50 presentations and comments from experts, scientists, managers, and investors. The presentations were of high quality and depth with many perspectives and multidisciplinary research approaches. The exchanged opinions clarified experiences in developing creative economy, digital economy, and international integration of innovative startup ecosystems. Analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges for Ninh Binh province to promote digital transformation associated with building an international integration of innovative startup ecosystems, as well as analyzing human resources of Ninh Binh province to meet the requirements of innovation.

The workshop listened to reports and in-depth scientific research topics on the development of industries, potential fields and advantages of Ninh Binh province. From the analysis of innovation center models of Israel, Japan, the United States, China, Korea, India, ... as well as through the preliminary assessment of the operating model of the Startup and Innovation Ecosystem in some localities today, scientists and experts suggested that Ninh Binh can draw some reference values in Initiating and developing an international integration innovation startup ecosystem in Ninh Binh.

For Ninh Binh, when the province's resources are limited and it has to compete with large startup centers in the region such as Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, considering and selecting projects and businesses in the province's strong fields for support is also an effective way to invest such as high-tech agriculture, green tourism, logistics, etc.   Choose to support and promote local startup core businesses, thoroughly integrating innovative startups into programs such as OCOP, new rural areas, and business creation of departments, branches, and sectors.

Comrade Doan Minh Huan, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, delivered a speech concluding the workshop.

In his closing remarks at the workshop, Comrade Doan Minh Huan, Member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, acknowledged and highly appreciated the contributions and discussions of experts, investors, and the business community who shared knowledge, experience, and experiences in the field of creative startups to empathize, inspire passion, absorb, and join hands to act together.

He emphasized that in reality, start-ups and innovation are new and difficult issues that not only pose a local problem but also a national, international and human one. In essence, innovation is the restructuring of the entire economy, from creative ideas, civilization, inventions, and commercialized knowledge that will create material, create added value for businesses, for the nation, if this trend is not kept up, it will fall behind. In fact, Ninh Binh has been choosing the path of innovation based on its potential, strengths and the foundation of heritage, ecology, art, knowledge, etc.

He emphasized that this is not an academic conference but a very practical one. The issues raised by the delegates have touched on new and difficult aspects of the whole country and humanity in the field of innovation, thereby restructuring the economy, on the basis of commercialization and entrepreneurship of ideas, creating material wealth for society. The implication of the conference also conveys the message of attracting investment, calling for strategic investors to develop emerging economic sectors based on the driving force of innovation and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements.

The Provincial Party Secretary said that innovation is the work of all people, in all fields, but it is necessary to identify the core force, the center is enterprises, around which are intellectuals, artists, based on the competitive advantages of the province. However, to promote the startup ecosystem is not a story of a locality to solve but requires a macro mechanism from the Central Government. At the same time, Ninh Binh needs to propose to the Ministry of Science and Technology to build Ninh Binh into a cultural industrial center of the world, a center of the automobile mechanical industry, a center of emerging economic sectors based on innovation, promoting Ninh Binh into a free trade zone in the new era. This determination of Ninh Binh needs to be institutionalized and concretized by a separate Resolution on developing the cultural and entertainment industry associated with innovation in the direction of becoming a centrally-governed city by 2035 with the characteristics of a millennium heritage urban area.

Song Nguyen-Anh Tuan

Source: https://baoninhbinh.org.vn/hoi-thao-khoa-hoc-thuc-tien-khoi-tao-va-thuc-day-phat-trien/d20240929100046189.htm