To build a truly sustainable startup ecosystem, Dak Lak province has been striving to remove resource barriers while maximizing the advantages of local resources to reach international markets.

Over the past few years, the startup landscape in Dak Lak province has undergone a significant qualitative shift. Successful projects are no longer limited to creating raw products but have learned to breathe life into them with humanistic stories, linked to environmental conservation and sustainable community development.

The MISS EDE chocolate and coffee brand being one of the successful startup-products from exploiting local resources

The growth of startups is inseparable from the guiding and supportive role of the local government. Mr. Nguyen Hoang Phuc, Deputy Director of the Department of Finance, said that Dak Lak province has realized its commitment to accompanying businesses through vigorously implementing projects supporting innovative startups.

However, local businesses still have limited access to venture capital due to small-scale production and inadequate management capacity. Furthermore, the linkages between elements within the ecosystem are sometimes fragmented, leading to a shortage of value chains from production to consumption.

For building a strong startup community

In the context of a global economy strongly shifting towards a digital and green model, Dak Lak province is facing a great opportunity to transform from exploiting raw resources to doing business based on intelligence and added value.

With its abundant local resources such as coffee, durian, and unique culture, combined with gradually improving logistics infrastructure, Dak Lak province has possessed all the “golden ingredients” to develop agricultural technology and experiential tourism models. However, the journey is still encountering significant obstacles related to family-based management thinking, the awkwardness in applying high technology, and the “brain drain” of high-quality human resources to major cities.

Nutri Soil Import-Export Joint Stock Company being one of the successful startups that developed local products

To tackle these challenges, Ms. Luong Thi Thuy Anh, President of the PCA Productivity Training Academy, Director of the Dak Lak Innovation Hub Center, believes that the key strategic solution is to promote “dual transformation” - combining digitalization and greening. Dak Lak province should not chase after far-fetched trends but should use technology to solve core problems such as cross-border e-commerce, circular economy from agricultural by-products, and exploiting the forest carbon credit market. Simultaneously, the government needs to play a facilitating role by simplifying procedures, building a controlled testing mechanism for bold ideas, and establishing a public-private partnership startup investment fund to support seed-stage capital.

Entering a new phase, Dak Lak province's goal is not only to increase the number of businesses but also to build a resilient and globally-minded startup community, which requires synchronized coordination, from innovating entrepreneurship education in schools to attracting large investment funds to the locality.

Translated by TRINH THUY