Vietnamese Consul General in Busan Doan Phuong Lan met with CEO of the Busan Centre for Creative Economy and Innovation (BCEC) Kim Yong-woo on July 16 to discusss ideas that open the Vietnamese market to startups from the southeastern region of the Republic of Korea (RoK) while tightening bilateral innovation links.

At the BCEC headquarters.

BCEC is a government-backed accelerator assigned by the Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups to lead ecosystem development in Busan and neighbouring regions.

The centre supports startups end-to-end, from ideation and incubation to mentoring, acceleration, technology validation, fundraising and global expansion while driving open innovation by connecting them with major corporations, universities, research institutes, investors, and domestic and international partners.

Both sides agreed that Vietnam-RoK startup cooperation must pivot from fact-finding tours, trade shows and short-term networking towards a hard-nosed partnership model that delivers concrete market access, business partner matchmaking, product validation, technology piloting and investor connectivity.

The Consulate General said it stands ready to act as a bridge to Vietnam’s central and local agencies, innovation hubs, universities, investment funds and the wider business community.

A centerpiece of the discussion was a global acceleration programme designed to steer 20 tech startups from the RoK's southeastern region into Vietnam.

Beyond securing exhibition slots and business-matchmaking events, it will connect those startups with Vietnamese manufacturing partners to run proof-of-concept trials, test product-market fit, raise investment and accelerate commercialisation.

Those startups are expected to attend InnoEX 2026 - Southeast Asia’s premier innovation forum and exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City, where they will pitch, meet investors, consult potential customers and embed themselves in the local ecosystem.

Both sides also pledged to gradually build a long-term collaboration network linking startups, investors, universities and enterprises from both countries.

With a dynamic market, a surging innovation ecosystem and strategic regional connectivity, Vietnam is increasingly seen not just as an attractive landing pad for Korean startups, but as a springboard into the broader Southeast Asian market.

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