On November 6 in Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnam Innovation Summit 2025 (VIS 2025) opened. For the 4th time, the event opens a series of regional-scale activities with the theme "Creating a bridge towards innovation and development" organized by InnoLab Asia, in coordination with the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City and other units.
The event gathered nearly 3,000 attendees, including 150 speakers who are leaders, leading experts, startups, businesses, investment funds and research institutes from Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong (China) and many other countries, affirming Ho Chi Minh City's increasingly clear position on the regional innovation map.
Innovation - New growth pillar of Ho Chi Minh City
In his opening speech, Mr. Lam Dinh Thang - Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City - affirmed that innovation is becoming an important pillar in the new growth model of Ho Chi Minh City - along with the digital economy and green economy.
He shared: Innovation is not only in research institutes, but must seep into each enterprise, each community, each individual. Every businessman, every startup, every scientist, every civil servant innovates partly in their way of thinking and working - all of which form a constant creative flow, creating a new momentum for the city and the country's economy".
According to him, Ho Chi Minh City is promoting the model of a Local Investment Fund according to Decree 26/2025/ND-CP - the first time allowing the government to proactively mobilize, manage and invest in technology projects, startups and innovation. In addition, Ho Chi Minh City is also stepping up testing of sandbox mechanisms in the fields of fintech, green energy, smart logistics and artificial intelligence.
The theme Building a bridge for innovation and sustainable growth is not only a beautiful message, but a commitment to action. The city will continue to play the role of creating - accompanying - serving government, Mr. Thang emphasized.
To do that, the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City will continue to improve institutions and policies to facilitate innovation and start-ups; Promote the development of infrastructure for research - incubation - commercialization of research results; Strengthen international cooperation, attract talent, capital and technology and spread the culture of innovation in all fields - from businesses to communities, from schools to grassroots governments.
Regional forum chains
Within the framework of VIS 2025, the main stage of "Inno Stage" brings together hundreds of international experts, attracting the attention of attendees with three key forums:
Promote innovation through science, technology and digital transformation, analyze the role of science and technology in Vietnam's economic development strategy to 2030, with the topics of intellectual property, capital flows and institutional frameworks.
Unblock private resources, create finance for the innovative economy as well as discuss new investment trends, digital assets and green finance strategies.
Breakthrough innovation: From smart infrastructure to global market - emphasizing Vietnam's new competitiveness in the global value chain and intellectual property policies in the AI era.
In addition, the Beyond Stage sub-stage expands in-depth topics such as future talent and innovation capabilities, ESG, sustainable manufacturing and green finance, digital finance future, Blockchain, AI and the international financial center ecosystem, and Net Zero initiatives of Japanese enterprises, clearly demonstrating the trend of linking policies, businesses and academia in the open innovation ecosystem.
