SINGAPORE - Enterprise Singapore announced the expansion of the Global Innovation Alliance network to Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday (July 18), plugging Singapore technology startups into the emerging innovation scene in Vietnam.

Launched in 2017, the initiative strengthens Singapore's connections to major innovation hubs around the world.

It seeks to create more opportunities for Singaporeans, students, entrepreneurs and businesses to gain overseas experience, connect, and collaborate with their overseas counterparts.

The involvement of Ho Chi Minh City in the network was formalised at a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing between Enterprise Singapore, Quest Ventures - a Singapore-based leading venture fund for companies - and Saigon Innovation Hub, an agency under the Department of Science and Technology in the city in southern Vietnam.

The signing took place at WeWork, a co-working space in Ho Chi Minh City.

The agreement will boost collaborations between Singapore startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and their counterparts in Vietnam.

It will also create more internship opportunities for Singapore students in startups and innovative companies in Vietnam.

Under the MOU, the three partners will organise curated programmes to introduce Singapore startups to the innovation ecosystem in Ho Chi Minh City, and connect them to partners, investors and customers in Vietnam.

Targeted to commence in September this year, the first cohort will involve up to 10 Singapore startups, with another two runs of the programme expected to take place over the next 12 months.

As part of the Global Innovation Alliance network, Ngee Ann Polytechnic also signed six MOUs with Vietnamese startups.

They are: Alley51 Ventures, a venture builder; CoderSchool, a training school for developers, designers and data scientists; ELSA Corp, a startup for foreign languages; Lazada Vietnam; Quest Ventures; and Saigon Innovation Hub.

In 2018, Vietnamese startups attracted close to US$900 million (S$1.2 billion) of funding, more than three times that in 2017, said Mr Png Cheong Boon, chief executive officer of Enterprise Singapore.

"Vietnam is a growing market for technology startups and SMEs, given the young and increasingly tech-savvy population and strong government support," he said.

With the expansion of the Global Innovation Alliance network to Ho Chi Minh City, Mr Png said that "Enterprise Singapore will help Singapore enterprises and startups plug into one of the largest innovation ecosystems in Asia".

Startup exchanges are already taking place between Singapore and Vietnam.

Last week, a group of 22 Vietnamese students were in Singapore for a startup immersion programme organised by Lead The Change Community, a global community for youths and startups empowering young people by exposing them to entrepreneurship training, mentorship and networks.

The Global Innovation Alliance network now has connections to 11 cities globally.

They are: Bangkok in Thailand; Beijing, Suzhou and Shanghai in China; Berlin and Munich in Germany; Jakarta in Indonesia; Paris in France; Tokyo in Japan; San Francisco in the United States; and now Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.