ASA-MOST, a key partner organization for entering Vietnam for outstanding startups in Seoul Startup Hub, is a separate independent organization and oversees the southern region of Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology.

It is not a separate agency of the Ministry of Science and Technology, but a direct agency of the Ministry of Science and Technology located in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, and is located in front of the independent army of the first division of Ho Chi Minh City, right next to the office of the Vietnamese Minister of Science and Technology.

ASA-MOST (Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology Southern Secretariat) has the following major roles.

It serves as an office in the southern region of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and directs and supports the Ministry of Science and Technology (Mr Huynh ThanhData) in performing the national management of science and technology.

It also monitors and integrates the status of activities in areas that fall within the core management scope of the country, and supports the activities of ministries in southern provinces and major cities.

Depending on the requests and approval of department leaders, they develop and coordinate joint international activities for other relevant organizations, such as support for organizational and national budgets, as well as support for Official Development Assistance (ODA), International non-governmental organizations (INGO), and development of technologies and projects.

Since signing an MOU in 2019, Seoul Startup Hub and the Vietnamese startup ecosystem cooperation project can now operate resources through coordination and agreement with the Vietnamese government and public institutions. Through this, customized cooperation projects were conducted through direct selection of promising startups and items (potential startups and items were selected by each Vietnamese institution), and Seoul Startup Hub used the ASEA (Asia Startup Ecosystem Alliance) as an initial business model (Vietnam market as the first testbed country).

Despite difficulties due to COVID-19, it aimed at 11 joint ventures and 5 local subsidiaries in 2020, and as of 2021, 11 joint ventures are being carried out through partner agreements.

Through the achievements of the above cooperative project, Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology also opened the Ho Chi Minh Center, the first overseas hub of the Seoul Startup Hub, in the spring of 2021.

Meanwhile, participating in Try Everything is expected to serve as a control tower for participation in government agencies, VCs, ACs, and companies related to the Vietnamese startup ecosystem. In 2020 and 21, offline visits were not possible due to COVID-19, so sessions were held in the form of online seminars on the Asian (Vietnam) startup ecosystem and announcements on the performance of excellent startups entering Vietnam.

For future cooperative projects, the Seoul Startup Hub Ho Chi Minh Center plans to designate "Seoul Startup Hub + ASA-MOST Vietnam Partner Agency" within each major local science and technology department (including universities, associations, large companies and investors) and plans to establish a platform for local office space and institutional cooperation. In addition, the government plans to introduce the Seoul Startup Hub global program to support excellent start-ups in Vietnam, and to establish global cooperation standards for conducting partnership programs (including Vietnamese global start-up events).