KASIKORN VISION COMPANY LIMITED (KVision) - an investment holding company of KBank responsible for scouting innovative firms and tech communities within the region to develop new technological capabilities - teams with Business Startup Support Center (BSSC) from Vietnam to hold a seminar to equip Thai startup firms with knowledge for branching out into Vietnam. The partners aim to find high potential Thai startups to make inroads into the Vietnamese market with brighter growth prospects, while also planning to provide 245 million USD in seed money to invest in Thai and foreign startup companies.

Mr. Pattarapong Kanhasuwan, Chairman of KVision, said that there are now a lot of quality startup firms in Thailand and most of them have the potential to flourish in other countries, especially in Vietnam. Amid high economic growth, tech startups in Vietnam have been among the fastest-growing sectors in ASEAN. Investment in startups in the country reached 889 million USD in 2018, triple what was seen in 2017. Bright prospects lie there for new startup companies

KVision, established by KBank as a holding company to invest in startups and explore innovation in the region, has signed a cooperation agreement with BSSC, a Vietnamese government’s agency to support and develop startups, to select potential Thai startups wishing to expand their business to the Vietnamese market. The collaboration opens an opportunity for the Thai entrepreneurs to step up their game to the regional level, backed by KVision and BSSC which will serve as their business advisors. In particular, with BSSC’s profound understanding of their home market will help Thai startups to thrive in the Vietnamese business ecosystem.

BSSC joins hands with KVision to organize a seminar under the “Vietnam: A New Greenfield Market with Exponential Growth” topic to provide knowledge and a platform for an exchange of experience between Thai startups aspiring to do the business in Vietnam and experts from both the Thai and Vietnamese public and private sectors as well as the Thai startup companies with direct experience in doing business in Vietnam. The topics of the seminar include business management, marketing, advisory and financial support to propel startup business into the global stage, especially Vietnam which has tremendous room to grow in the future.

Mr. Pattarapong went on to say that Vietnam is like a “Greenfield”, which offers ample business opportunities for new startups, thanks to its huge market and steady growth in the use of technologies for daily life while Vietnamese consumers are ready to embrace new things. Moreover, Vietnam has relatively efficient human resources, with a high number of engineers and IT personnel. The government has also provided substantial and steady support for the development of new startups. Such a support is made via BSSC, which is the first state organization that has been tasked with nurturing startups in Vietnam in terms of knowledge, advice and funds, so that they can expand their businesses and have the potential to compete in both Vietnam and other ASEAN countries. Startups in Vietnam are also supported by a network with 63 state agencies and more than 100 universities, plus over 1,000 investment agencies. In 2018, BSSC received USD30 million in assistance funds from the People Committee. A total of 1,482 startups expressed their interest to join the program and there were 28,000 participants joining the event.

One of the interesting activities to be organized by BSSC for the seventh consecutive year is the Vietnam Startup Wheel 2019, August 23-24, 2019, Ho Chi Minh City, but what is so special is that an application will be opened for foreign nationals. For details on application methods and qualifications of applicants, please visit http://startupwheel.vn/en/registration. Applicants will be accepted until May 31, 2019

Mr. Pattarapong added that KVision is an investment holding company under KBank. It is responsible for scouting tech communities to find innovative firms, in particular tech startups and tech talents in four countries having outstanding technologies, namely Israel, Indonesia, Vietnam and China, to allow KVision to expand regional businesses, especially in AEC+3.