Global innovation platform Plug and Play, headquartered in Silicon Valley (USA), cooperates with Ho Chi Minh City to attract foreign investment, support startups, and bring technology developed by Vietnamese people internationally.
The goal was stated by Mr. Jojo Flores, co-founder of Plug and Play Tech Center, at the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony with Ho Chi Minh City Creative Startup Center (Sihub) and Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, on the afternoon of September 30.
In the presence of the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, the Department of Science and Technology and representatives of relevant units, agreed to research, build and gradually deploy the Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (AI COE) in Ho Chi Minh City.
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony between Plug and Play and Ho Chi Minh City Creative Startup Center (Sihub) and Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, on the afternoon of September 30. Image: An Phuong
Plug and Play was founded in 2006, headquartered in Silicon Valley, USA, operating in the field of connecting startups with corporations, investors, universities and government agencies. The organization also operates corporate innovation, startup accelerator and venture capital programs.
The Plug and Play network currently includes more than 100,000 startups, more than 550 corporate partners and a presence in more than 60 locations globally.
The AI COE model is expected to be deployed in Ho Chi Minh City based on three pillars, including: Capability Center, focusing on training and developing AI capacity; The Acceleration Track program, which supports mentoring and incubation of startups in this field, and the Solution Testing Venture Client Program (PoC), facilitates bringing technology to real problems of government and businesses before evaluating scalability.
According to the agreement, the parties will develop and deploy details of the operating model, resources and evaluation indicators (KPI) within 30 days.
The goal is to announce the AI COE program at Plug and Play’s November 2026 Summit in Silicon Valley. This is also an opportunity for Ho Chi Minh City’s technology ecosystem to reach the startup community, businesses and international investors.
Mr. Jojo Flores, co-founder of Plug and Play Tech Center, spoke at the signing ceremony on the afternoon of September 30. Image: An Phuong
Mr. Jojo Flores said that in the context of AI rapidly changing the global economy, each country needs to determine where they are, what they can contribute and how to participate in the emerging international value chain.
“Those are the questions that Plug and Play and the AI Center of Excellence aim to answer,” he said. Therefore, cooperation not only aims to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship but also aims to create high-income jobs, attract foreign direct investment and bring technology developed by Vietnamese people to the international market.
Mr. Louis Nguyen, CEO of Saigon Asset Management (SAM), said he has connected Plug and Play with Vietnam, expecting the cooperation to help Ho Chi Minh City access new technology, support startups and expand relationships with global technology corporations.
According to him, Plug and Play’s advantage lies in its ecosystem and wide international network, through which it can create an additional platform to connect Vietnamese businesses with startups, technology corporations and foreign investors.
He believes that the effectiveness of cooperation needs to be demonstrated by measurable results, such as the number of startups supported, jobs created, amount of capital mobilized, number of Vietnamese businesses expanding into foreign markets and number of international partners connected.
The connection between Ho Chi Minh City and Plug and Play is promoted by the Vietnamese Consulate General in San Francisco through the “technology diplomacy” channel. Thereby, the city has more opportunities to access a network of experts, technologies, startups, corporations and international investors; At the same time, open more channels for Vietnamese businesses to access the program and global markets.
Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Truong Minh Huy Vu spoke at the signing ceremony on the afternoon of September 30. Image: An Phuong
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Truong Minh Huy Vu said building a startup ecosystem is a program the city has implemented for many years. The city is shifting its focus from quantitative development to improving the quality of support centers, universities and innovation organizations.
According to him, the ecosystem needs to form a “wave” to support businesses from the initial stage to development on a larger scale. In particular, cooperation with experienced international organizations is an important direction. This model has the participation of schools, startup support units and the State, including Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, Sihub and Plug and Play. The goal is to create a space for: “People with ideas have a place to start. People with technology have a place to experiment. Businesses with problems have a place to find solutions. Investors have the opportunity to find potential projects and the city has more practical solutions to serve people and businesses,” Mr. Vu said.
Ho Chi Minh City leaders emphasized that innovation needs to come from actual needs instead of just focusing on owning technology or developing an individual solution. This process starts from identifying the problems of the city, businesses and people, then finding suitable technology, connecting institutes, schools, businesses and experts, organizing testing in real conditions, evaluating effectiveness and then replicating possible solutions.
This is also the approach placed in the AI COE model, especially through Venture Client and PoC, to connect actual needs with research capacity, technology startups and investment resources.
On the same day, Ho Chi Minh City launched the Ho Chi Minh City Innovation and Startup Award (I-Star) 2026, to honor businesses, organizations, individuals and media works that contribute to innovation.
I-Star 2026 includes four award groups: creative startups, innovative solutions, media works and organizations and individuals with positive contributions. The award has a maximum of 12 prizes, applications are accepted until 5:00 p.m. October 31, 2026.
The city also launched a competition to create a logo to identify the brand “Ho Chi Minh City Startup University”, aiming to build a university environment that encourages creative thinking, problem solving, technology development and connection with businesses.