Techfest Haiphong 2026: From innovation connectivity to State management solutions

These serve as important suggestions for Hai Phong City to continue refining its policies on science, technology, and innovation development in the new era.

From a technology event to a cooperative network

Under the theme "Converging Intelligence - Sailing Out for Innovation", Techfest Haiphong 2026 expanded the networking space between the State, enterprises, research institutes, universities, startups, and international partners.

Taking place over 2 days on August 4 and 5, 2026, the event featured 150 physical exhibition booths that showcased

During the 2-day event on August 4 and 5, 2026, 150 physical exhibition booths at the "Voyage of 5 Tech Ports" space showcased over 1,000 technologies and solutions in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, smart seaports, automation, logistics, biotechnology, and the green economy. Notably, robotics and unmanned aerial vehicles were demonstrated for the first time.

With over 3,000 in-person attendees alongside tens of thousands of online followers via the digital exhibition platform, the event drew delegates and enterprises from more than 20 provinces and cities, as well as international partners from eight countries.

However, viewing Techfest Haiphong 2026 solely through the lens of booth numbers, introduced technologies, or visitor counts would fail to fully reflect the event's true value. The more significant aspect lay in the meetings, dialogues, and connections formed following the working sessions. This represents a shift from "technology display" to "matching technological demands", and from product presentation to seeking partners for joint research, testing, and commercialization.

A vivid example was the Technology Supply-Demand Matching Session between the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and Hai Phong City's enterprises. Five Korean businesses operating in high-tech agriculture, environmental technology, circular economy, food technology, biotechnology, cosmetics, and healthcare joined the matching process.

"Twenty-one direct meetings were organized, resulting in four memorandums of understanding signed between Korean businesses and enterprises, cooperatives, and research institutes from Hai Phong City and neighboring regions. Notably, this matching model went beyond searching for ready-made machinery or production lines. Businesses had the opportunity to access core technology, knowledge, and research capacity, thereby enhancing their mastery of technology and expanding indigenous research capabilities.

Tran Van Trung, General Director of Kien Quoc Agriculture JSC, stated that the enterprise is developing a rice cultivation area of over 200 hectares and recently achieved USDA Organic certification. Through Techfest Haiphong 2026, the company sought science and technology solutions for pest and disease detection in agricultural production, aiming to implement plans for applying Korean partners' technology in Vietnam.

According to Dr. Kim Joosun, Director General of KIST Gangneung Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, business-to-business (B2B) matching helps Vietnamese enterprises access new technologies and markets, while assisting Korean businesses in better understanding demand and finding partners in Vietnam, particularly in Haiphong.

Such connections highlight a new requirement for innovation support activities: the State does not necessarily need to directly produce technology, but must build the space, mechanisms, and networks for technology to find applications, enterprises to find partners, and scientists to find markets.

Insights for State management

Techfest Haiphong 2026 took place as Hai Phong City concentrated its resources on achieving double-digit growth targets while implementing Politburo Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in national science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation.

At the opening ceremony, Vice Chairman of People's Committee of Hai Phong City Hoang Minh Cuong affirmed that the City is executing Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW under the "6 clear" principle, while leveraging specific mechanisms from National Assembly Resolution No. 226 to refine policies and unleash resources for development.

In particular, researching and implementing controlled testing mechanisms (sandbox) was put forward as a direction allowing enterprises and innovation entities to test new models, products, and technologies within an appropriate framework.

This can be viewed as one of the most critical messages from Techfest Haiphong 2026: to thrive, innovation requires not only capital, technology, and human resources, but also an institutional environment flexible enough for experimentation.

For State management, this demands a transition from a management mindset based primarily on licensing and control to one that fosters a development environment, where policies can keep pace with new models that existing regulations have yet to cover.

At the same time, connecting research institutes and universities with enterprises must be considered a regular task rather than an activity confined to event frameworks.

Two forums, two matching sessions, and one seminar with around 700 delegates at Techfest focused on developing the innovation ecosystem, connecting technology to market, talent to enterprises, and proposing policy solutions. These served as "practical data" for regulatory bodies to further identify business needs and bottlenecks in technology commercialization.

Enterprises need the State to "pave the way", not do the work for them

Realities at Techfest Haiphong 2026 also showed changing business demands. Enterprises require not just financial support, but suitable technology, high-quality human resources, research partners, markets, and legal corridors for experimentation.

This is an area where innovation support policies must continue adjusting. With over 200 innovative startups and 71 science and technology enterprises, Hai Phong City has formed a corporate force with relatively clear demands for technology and innovation. The city has also ranked among the top nationally in the Provincial Innovation Index (PII) for three consecutive years, and ranked 3rd in the Digital Transformation Index (DTI).

These achievements provide a foundation, but also raise higher expectations: how to transform the number of innovative enterprises into substantive innovation capacity; how to bring technology researched at universities and institutes into factories, agriculture, logistics, urban management, and daily life.

The presentation of the decision recognizing the provincial-level Innovative Startup Support Center at Techfest Haiphong 2026 holds significance not only organizationally, but also creates a focal point to sustain post-event connections. The center is expected to support projects from concept to product, connecting experts, capital, enterprises, and markets. Operated effectively, it could become "soft infrastructure" for Hai Phong City's innovation ecosystem.

Yet the ultimate effectiveness of the Center, as well as Techfest Haiphong 2026, lies not in the number of organized programs, but in the number of projects formed, technologies tested, products commercialized, and socio-economic value generated.

Technology must move closer to daily life

Another notable sign from Techfest Haiphong 2026 was the shift in how the public approaches technology. Robots, AI, unmanned aerial vehicles, and automation solutions no longer appeared solely in laboratories or specialized forums, but were brought directly to experiential spaces. For students and citizens, this was an opportunity to observe technology through intuitive experience rather than conceptual descriptions.

Public interest, particularly in robotics, AI, and emerging technologies, indicates growing awareness of how technology will transform work, production, and life. This offers another insight for State management: science, technology, and innovation policies must be viewed from both supply and demand sides. It is necessary not only to support business technology research, but also to generate markets, application demand, and technological absorption capacity across society.

When citizens witness technology solving concrete issues in production and life, innovation truly becomes a growth engine rather than merely a policy concept.

From Techfest to a substantive innovation ecosystem

For the 2026-2030 period, Hai Phong City has embraced the spirit of "Proactive implementation; unleashing drivers; breakthrough growth", focusing on industrial development, expanding development spaces, enhancing investment attraction quality, and advancing international cooperation in AI, semiconductors, big data, biotechnology, smart logistics, and marine technology.

In this context, Techfest Haiphong 2026 can be viewed as a test of the City's capacity to aggregate innovation resources. The event demonstrated that Hai Phong City can attract businesses, scientists, universities, startups, and international partners into a shared space. The next task is transforming that network into long-term cooperation programs.

From a State management perspective, at least three action items must continue following Techfest Haiphong 2026.

First, maintain a regular technology supply-demand matching mechanism, building a database of business tech requirements and research capacities of institutes and universities to allow parties to connect faster.

Second, institutionalize sandbox testing spaces, particularly for new technologies and business models, based on risk assessment and appropriate supervision mechanisms.

Third, evaluate innovation support effectiveness through output results rather than event counts, participating enterprise numbers, or supported project tallies. Crucial metrics must be applied technologies, commercialized new products, business productivity gains, and newly opened markets.

Achieving this will ensure Techfest becomes more than an annual event; it can serve as a "meeting point" where government, enterprises, scientists, and the market jointly define the City's new development challenges.

Techfest Haiphong 2026 brings an event to a close, yet the connections generated represent only the beginning. The event's greatest value will be measured by projects implemented thereafter, technologies introduced into production, maturing startups, and new policies shaped by practical experience.

From "Converging Intelligence - Sailing Out for Innovation", Hai Phong City has gained further grounds to shift from creating innovation spaces to building a substantive innovation ecosystem. This represents a necessary step for science, technology, and innovation to truly become drivers elevating productivity, competitiveness, and contributing to the goal of building Hai Phong City into an innovation center for the Northern Coastal Region./.

Copyright belongs to the Vietnam Journal of Science and Technology (VJST-MOST)