Ho Chi Minh City Launches VNĐ500 Billion VC Fund While Hosting Third 'Czechoslovakia Day' Cultural Gathering

The People’s Committee has approved a VNĐ500 billion venture capital fund to mobilize social resources for the innovation startup ecosystem, and ho chi minh city also held the third "Czechoslovakia Day" cultural gathering, underscoring a dual push on economic innovation and people-to-people ties.

Ho Chi Minh City moves to create a public–private VC vehicle

The new fund will begin operations in 2026 with initial charter capital of VNĐ500 billion, including VNĐ200 billion contributed from the State budget and VNĐ300 billion from private investors. The plan sets an ambition to expand the fund’s capital to at least VNĐ5, 000 billion by 2035.

The vehicle is structured as a public–private partnership with the State providing seed capital to attract private investment. For every VNĐ1 of State capital, the city expects to mobilize VNĐ2–3 from the private sector. The fund framework allows total losses not exceeding 50 percent of the government’s capital contribution within an investment cycle.

During 2026–2035 the fund intends to:

• Invest in 50–150 innovative startups and science-technology enterprises;
• Support commercialization of at least 50 new products or technologies;
• Help develop at least five large technology firms capable of listing on stock exchanges or engaging in international mergers and acquisitions.

Priority investment areas listed for the fund include digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain, semiconductor manufacturing, biotechnology, new materials, renewable energy, and automation and robotics. A number of large domestic corporations and investment groups have committed to join as founding investors.

Ho Chi Minh City cultural gathering reconnects former generations

The third gathering titled "Czechoslovakia Day in Ho Chi Minh City" took place on March 5, bringing together the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organizations in coordination with the local Vietnam–Czech and Vietnam–Slovakia friendship associations. Attendees included diplomatic and community representatives and members of the Czech and Slovak communities living and working in the city.

Organizers emphasized that the event serves to reconnect generations who once studied and worked in the former Czechoslovakia, to create a space for cultural exchange, and to strengthen mutual understanding and friendship. Most members of the two friendship associations studied and worked in Czechoslovakia between 1956 and 1992, and the associations agreed to organize the annual "Czechoslovakia Day in Ho Chi Minh City" beginning in 2024.

Implications: pairing innovation finance with civic outreach

The twin developments — a municipally backed venture fund and continued cultural programming — highlight a municipal strategy that pairs economic activation with soft-power and community engagement initiatives. The fund’s public–private structure and its explicit targets for startup investment and commercialization signal an attempt to create market-oriented channels for domestic capital to flow into higher-value technology sectors.

Separately, sustained cultural events that engage expatriate and alumni networks aim to preserve historical ties and build social capital that can complement economic objectives, including potential collaboration and knowledge exchange between communities and the city’s innovation ecosystem.

What to watch next

• Fund operations are scheduled to start in 2026, with expansion targets set through 2035 and staged investment goals during that period.
• Early investment activity and the identity of founding shareholders will shape the fund’s ability to attract follow-on private capital and meet commercialization targets.
• Continuation and growth of cultural events will indicate the strength of long-term people-to-people ties that organizers aim to sustain.

Details remain subject to further administrative and implementation steps. Recent updates outline the plan and targets, and additional announcements are expected as the fund moves toward operational launch.