The document summarizes the women's entrepreneurship ecosystem in Vietnam. It discusses how the ecosystem is growing, with policymakers like Vietnam's Women Union and Agency for Enterprise Development working to promote women's economic participation and businesses. Other stakeholders provide services like training, mentoring, and access to markets and financing to help women entrepreneurs and small business owners. While services are available nationwide, most private providers are located in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The ecosystem sees opportunities for improved collaboration between government agencies, non-profits, and private sector organizations to better support women entrepreneurs in Vietnam.

1. WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ECOSYSTEM IN VIETNAM
Associate Professor, Dr. Le Thi Thu Ha and Pham Hoang Ngan (M.A)
6/10/2021

2. Women Entrepreneurship Ecosystem of Vietnam is growing
• At central level, Vietnam’s Women Union and Agency for Enterprise Development- Ministry of Planning and
Investment are two policy makers working on more favorable regulations for women entrepreneurship.
• The former looks after various aspects of women life including economic activities.
• The latter focuses on women-led business operations.
• Other stakeholders those offer services to women entrepreneurs are eager to build capacity for women founders
and executives by equipping them with business management skills and knowledge.
• Some programs offer market access services such as trade fairs and exhibitions, value chain integration, and
partnership development.
• Few deliver financial services including micro lending, trade financing, and gender-lens investing.
• Services offering to women entrepreneurs in many forms including training, mentoring, coaching, consulting,
lending, and investing.
• Engaging government agencies as central coordinator brings opportunities to leverage fragmented resources,
facilitate collaboration among ecosystem players, and advocate gender-responsive policies.
• BDS market for women entrepreneurs and women SMEs is newborn.
• BDS providers consist of public and central agencies, business associations, and the private service providers.
• While public BDS and donor-funded programs are in Hanoi, most private BDS providers in HCMC.
• Women business associations provide women entrepreneurs with BDS in Hanoi by Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council (VWEC), in HCMC by
Ho Chi Minh city Association for Women Executives and Entrepreneurs (HAWEE), and nationwide by Vietnam Association for Women
Entrepreneurs (VAWE).
• Traditional BDS such as training and business networking. New BDS services has recently introduced to women
entrepreneurs, for instance, mentoring, coaching, gender-lens investing and lending, as well as platforms for e-
learning and market accessing.

3. Stakeholder Mapping and Analysis of Women Entrepreneurs Supports Programs and Initiatives
GIZ, AED-MPI, 2021

4. Programs that provide women entrepreneurs with global-oriented market access
opportunities are international donor-funded and private sector.
• Top BDS providers offer global market access services for women entrepreneurs are BSAS, SheTrades,
FTU Innovation and Incubation Space (FIIS), ZoneStartup, WISE SOCIAL, PUM Netherland Senior
Experts, and Beacon Fund.
• BSAS- Business Association of High Quality Products offers quality standards for products eyeing
globalization opportunities through training and coaching.
• SheTrades – aims to connect women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses to international markets
through capacity building and a trade-connection platform.
• FTU Innovation and Incubation Space (FIIS) offers “Runway To The World Acceleration Program” to
export-oriented enterprises.
• ZoneStartup’s EMPower arranges mentorships with foreign experts to women-led businesses in Vietnam
in order to improve export readiness for women-led tech-based enterprises whether they offer global
client’s physical products or services.
• WISE SOCIAL provides global market access through mentoring and connecting women entrepreneurs to
Global Pitch.
• PUM Senior Netherland Experts facilitates technology transfers in order to improve manufacturing
capacity of Vietnamese exporters via advisory and coaching.
• Beacon Fund offers export financing solutions for women-led export-oriented SMEs.

5. Some programs offer market access services and financial services
• Trade fairs and exhibitions (BSAS, FIIS, WISE),
• Value chain integration (for example LinkSMEs, funded by USAID, managed
by AED-Ministry of Planning and Investment),
• Utilize Tech & Digital Solutions and Platforms: The fact that deployment of
tech and digital solutions (including platforms) in delivering supports to
women entrepreneurs, especially those are eying global markets and
expansions (PUM Netherland Senior Experts, SheTrade, Cherie Blair
Foundation…)
• Few deliver financial services including:
• Micro lending (TYM Microfinance).
• Trade financing (Beacon Fund).
• Gender lens investing (perhaps more about connecting women founders to investors
(EMPower and WISE Accelerator).
• Women-led SMEs lending (Bank of BIDV, VPBank).

6. Collaboration and partnerships with Vietnam Women Entrepreneurship
Ecosystem
• 13/21 women entrepreneurship support stakeholders in Vietnam are global oriented such as
helping women-led enterprises export product and service, expand oversea operations, and
receive technical and financial resources from foreign partners and investors. Of which, 11 offers
market access services.
• They are target the same beneficiary: product-market fit business executives. These women
executives are testing if the market accepts their products and services as well as struggling with
defining go-to-market strategy. They all are looking for market expansion opportunities.
• Government customers – such as AED-MPI are more eager to work with BDS providers as
creating a supportive environment for BDS is a part of the implementation of SME Support Law.
The SMEs Support Law offers financial subsidies to SMEs and WSMEs when using BDS.
• In order to promote BDS private providers, the SME Support Law mandates MPI to create a
network of individual and institutional consultants for business planning and investment.
• In addition to MPI, Ministry of Industry and Trade and Ministry of Justice have already established
their respective networks of consultants.
• Follow the SME Support Law, state budget will subsidize SMEs, including WSMEs, using BDS
provided by the networks. A national web portal has been developed to serve as an integrated
access point to BDS for SMEs.