Which is the Vietnamese entrepreneurial ecosystem status? How entrepreneurial competencies can positively impact on entrepreneurship rate? These were the main issues of the online session INSME Secretary General Giovanni Zazzerini held on the 4th of June in the framework of the Essex Business School Venture Webinar Series, an initiative promoted and coordinated by Jay Mitra, Professor at the Essex Business School and INSME Board Member.
Vietnam is one of the most vibrant economy in the world with an economic growth between 6-7% and this impressive trend has been driven by significant reforms such as “Doi Moi”, a series of economic and political measures to become a socialist oriented market. Trade liberalization, domestic trade – with particular attention to deregulation and lower costs to do business and investments in human capital are the three main factors that made this growth possible.
Vietnam’s growth is partially inclusive, and the country registers a high rate of youth unemployment. One of the main reasons is that there is a mismatch between the skills needed by local enterprises and the competencies students are provided with by colleges. As reported in the paper on “Developing Entrepreneurial Competencies in Vietnam: Evidence from the Bac Ninh Province” recently released on the “Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies” – and available here – there is a lack of entrepreneurial competencies. These competencies include several aspects related to business skills (i.e. financial literacy, spotting opportunities, managing resources, planning) and personal and interpersonal characteristics (such as creativity, proactiveness, perseverance, risk tolerance, leadership, negotiation.)
All these skills can be organized, trained, and developed through entrepreneurship education courses, by promoting a closer collaboration between enterprises, universities, and vocational schools, by developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem, by adopting teaching methodologies which directly involve students in the business environment.
Source: The International Network for SMEs - INSME
