Vietnamese startups flourish as a result of their digital transformation journey

DNHN - The RMIT Business Startup Forum with the topic "Smart Companies - How Digitization Helps Your Startup Journey" gave ideas on how to establish future digital startups for Vietnam.

Speakers shared insights on building the future of digital startups for Vietnam at the RMIT Entrepreneurship Forum. 

The forum, hosted by RMIT University's Department of Human Resource Management and Entrepreneurship, draws a huge number of Vietnamese industry activists, entrepreneurs, researchers, specialists, and students. 

Speakers at the event include representatives from Vietnamese digital enterprises and startups such as Korean food delivery service BAEMIN, English learning app ELSA Speak, audiobook app Vietnamese Fontos, and craft board game Maztermind.

Mr Jinwoo (Chris) Song, General Director of Woowa Brothers Vietnam (BAEMIN), discussed how technology and digital assisted his company and its food industry partners in recovering and growing during and after the disaster of COVID-19.

Mr Song added: "As a food delivery platform operator, technology has enabled us to contact new consumers, decrease fixed costs, understand clients, and streamline operations while enhancing the speed and quality of delivery services through the delivery network."

"I believe that the capacity to create a distinctive and responsive platform, together with the ability to evaluate digital data from several sources, will decide who succeeds in the market."

Meanwhile, Mr Toan Nguyen, the creator of Maztermind Vietnam, feels that there is plenty of potential for small and medium-sized businesses to participate in cross-border e-commerce.

Mr Toan stated: "According to Amazon statistics, the export value of Vietnamese small and medium companies selling on this worldwide platform has climbed by 48 per cent in 2020 and 2021."

According to Mr Toan, "the main factors affecting the ability of domestic brands to reach international consumers are growing social media marketing, flexible digital payment options, easy access to international online sales platforms for both sellers and buyers, and cross-border shipping capacity."

Ms Nguyen Minh Xuan, Co-Founder and CEO of Fonos, underlined the importance of international standards in beginning a firm in the global arena.

Ms Xuan explained: "When a company begins doing business in Vietnam, it should consider the prospect of competing with foreign enterprises since clients may compare domestic items to similar brands they have already seen." They make decisions based on their personal experiences rather than geographical location."

She also emphasized how technology and real-time information data have made it easier to obtain consumer insights than in the past, owing to the various ways organizations connect with customers.

According to Natalie Do, Senior Director of Global Development at ELSA Group, the number of companies in Vietnam implementing artificial intelligence (AI) into their company processes is growing. The potential here is enormous, and it will help to develop a healthy ecosystem for software entrepreneurs.

At the end of the event, Associate Professor Nguyen Quang Trung, Head of the Management Department at RMIT, stated that becoming a genuine entrepreneur entails producing value via innovation and creativity.

"Digitalization and smart transformation are making it simpler for us to connect with our consumers, suppliers, and other market participants. However, as we have seen in the past, a genuinely savvy entrepreneur will always understand the local environment to build and implement the finest platforms and apps to improve customer experience. and the entrepreneurial journeys of the presenters at today's program" Associate Professor Trung ended.

PV