LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR BUSINESS INCUBATORS, INNOVATION CENTERS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE STARTUP ECOSYSTEM IN VIETNAM

In the context where the creative economy and innovation are increasingly becoming new drivers of growth, business incubators and innovation centers play a pivotal role in supporting the formation and development of startup enterprises. In Vietnam, the process of building an innovative startup ecosystem has been strongly promoted through Project 844, the establishment of the National Innovation Center (NIC), and the emergence of numerous incubators, creative spaces, and startup support centers at both central and local levels. Recent reports show that Vietnam's startup ecosystem has attracted billions of USD in investment and has achieved a more favorable ranking in the Global Innovation Index (GII), affirming its potential to become a prominent innovation destination in the region. However, the legal framework governing incubators and innovation centers remains fragmented and embedded across various laws and sub-law documents, lacking consistency in terms of concepts, legal status, incentive mechanisms, and coordination mechanisms among actors in the ecosystem. On the basis of a legal–policy approach combined with secondary document analysis, this article aims to (i) systematize current legal provisions relating to incubators and innovation centers; (ii) analyze and assess the impact of this legal framework on the development of the startup ecosystem in Vietnam; and (iii) propose several recommendations for improvement in order to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of legal regulation in this field. The research findings indicate that, although the legal framework has been relatively well established in certain pillars (support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), venture capital, intellectual property), there remain gaps in legal recognition, in financial–tax mechanisms and in mission-oriented policy design for incubators and innovation centers.