New Delhi: Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur

Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur on Saturday said India is now the hub of 'Start-up' ecosystem in the world, ranking third with 90,000 'Start-Ups' and 107 unicorn companies worth 30 billion dollars. The Minister for Information and Broadcasting, and Youth Affairs and Sports was speaking at the valedictory function of 36th Inter-University North Zone Youth Festival (Antarnaad) under the aegis of Association of Indian Universities (AIU) at the Jammu University.

More than 1,000 participants from 18 universities across the country participated in the week-long festival.

"India is now the hub of 'Start-up' ecosystem in the world, ranking third with 90,000 'Start-Ups' and 107 unicorn companies worth 30 billion dollars which has been possible only by the contribution of India's youth," the minister said.

Thakur said the world is looking towards New India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi as India is now the biggest exporter of vaccines, biggest exporter of mobile phones and defence equipment.

He said for sustainable growth, the sustainable investment is required for the development of green economy leading to green jobs.

"For that, India is moving towards becoming the global hub for green hydrogen producing five million metric ton, 10 per cent of the world in the next five years with Rs 8 lakh crore investment that will generate thousands of green jobs for the youth of this country," he said.

Praising the various performances of the youth during the festival, Thakur said India has a great history with rich culture, art and tradition and the youth of this country have a great responsibility to preserve this culture, art and tradition which is not seen anywhere in the world.

Where is Vietnam on the world startup map?

Vietnam’s startup ecosystem ranks 5th in Southeast Asia and 54th in the world. Ho Chi Minh City is close to the Top 100 while Hanoi is out of the Top 200 Global Startup Cities, according to the report in 2022.

StartupBlink – a research and mapping center for the global startup ecosystem – has just announced the ranking of the startup ecosystem of countries in 2022. Accordingly, Vietnam ranked 54th, up 5 places compared to last year. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam ranks 5th, after Singapore (#7); Indonesia (#38); Malaysia (#42) and Thailand (#53).

StartupBlink believes that Vietnam can surpass Thailand and rank No. 4 in Southeast Asia next year if it still maintains the growth of the ecosystem.

According to this unit, “Vietnam’s startup ecosystem has growth potential, mainly due to the size of the economy, helping startups succeed even if they do not expand into the international market”. However, “to become a regional and global startup hub, Vietnam must create innovations with regional or global impact”.

StartupBlink also pointed out the fields that are attracting investment in Vietnam, including E-commerce, Fintech, Foodtech, business solutions and information technology services. Some notable Vietnamese startups cited by StartupBlink include two unicorns MoMo, Sky Mavis and e-commerce platform Sendo.