In recent years, Can Tho has emerged as a pioneering locality that promotes the development of a startup and innovation ecosystem. The city has shown a strong commitment by issuing various programs, plans, and initiatives to support startup and innovation activities. Notably, on June 30, 2021, the Can Tho People’s Committee issued Plan No. 135/KH-UBND on "Supporting the Development of the Startup and Innovation Ecosystem in Can Tho City for the 2021–2025 Period, with an Orientation to 2030", assigning the DoST as the lead implementing agency. This plan contributes to effectively implementing Decision No. 844/QD-TTg by the Prime Minister approving the national project to support the startup and innovation ecosystem through 2025.

According to the Can Tho DoST, the local startup ecosystem has made remarkable strides over the past five years, becoming a regional highlight in the Mekong Delta. Currently, 23 organizations and units in the city are engaged in supporting startup and innovation activities, including technology incubators and five co-working spaces. Especially noteworthy is that the startup product showcase and commercialization space operated by the DoST has played a key role in connecting and promoting startup products from Can Tho and other Mekong Delta provinces.

The DoST has also completed a proposal for the establishment of the Can Tho Startup and Innovation Center. The center will serve as the city’s focal point, responsible for mobilizing and coordinating resources within and beyond the locality for startup and innovation development. Over the past years, the department has supported the promotion and ecosystem integration of over 500 products from over 100 startup projects and enterprises. Can Tho’s innovative startup products have increasingly gained consumer recognition and are now targeting the domestic and international markets.

At the forum, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc He, Vice Chairman of the Can Tho People’s Committee, and leaders from the city’s DoST, visited the exhibition booths showcasing prominent startup and innovation products from Can Tho and the broader Mekong Delta region.

The forum was a significant event, offering an opportunity to evaluate past achievements while strengthening connections among stakeholders in Can Tho's startup and innovation ecosystem and across the country. On this occasion, the Can Tho DoST also launched the 2025 Startup and Innovation Contest in high-tech agriculture and inaugurated the Can Tho Technology Exchange Platform. This platform fosters linkages between scientific research, technological development, and business production activities in Can Tho and the Mekong Delta region.

In his remarks at the forum, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc He emphasized that Can Tho has shown strong efforts and leadership in supporting startup and innovation development in the Mekong Delta. The past five years of implementing Plan 135/KH-UBND have yielded highly commendable and praiseworthy results. The city’s startup ecosystem has undergone positive and substantial growth, laying a solid foundation for sustainable development, with the goal of becoming the innovation hub of the Mekong Delta by 2030.