Startup runway 2018: Lao students with start-up aspirations in Vietnam

Lao students who are currently studying in Vietnam have a burning desire to startup, bringing their country's cuisine to friends around the world. Coming from Kon Tum, over the past few days, the Saiyakone group of Da Nang University in Kontum has planned and finalized the idea to attend the finals of the contest "Startup Runway 2018" organized by the University of Economics – University of Da Nang in the coming June.

Bringing Lao cuisine to start up

The startup project, Laofood (the food of Laos), created by Linda (Banking), Kichie (Economic Law), Vilason Saiyakone (Accounting) has successfully defeated other projects to participate in the second phase of the workshop.

Having studied and lived in Vietnam since early 2015, Saiyakone's captain speaks Vietnamese very well. He said that he had a special feeling with the coastal city of Da Nang because it is the symbol for a dynamic, integrated and growing Vietnam. Thanks to that love, Saiyakone has nurtured a startup project right on this land. "I think there are some good business opportunities in Vietnam. There are many foreign restaurants such as Chinese restaurants, Korean restaurants, Japanese restaurants, etc. but there is no Laotian restaurant. Although Laos is a neighboring country of Vietnam, there are no restaurants with Lao cuisine. Therefore, we want to exploit this market". “The cuisine of Laos has some distinctive characteristics, with a lot of strange taste and wilderness that is difficult to be mixed with other countries’, Linda also added.

Vilason Saiyakone(the man in white in middle) is discussing the startup project with his friends to bring Lao cuisine to Vietnam. Photograph: TT

When you come to Laos, you cannot ignore the traditional food of Land of a Million Elephants such as Lao Pho, Khausoy, Lap, Laotian sticky rice, etc. "In Da Nang, there are thousands of Laos students who are our target customers. In addition, there are also Vietnamese or international tourists in Da Nang who want to discover Lao cuisine", Linda said. To convince the Board of Organization, Linda's team had to show the practicality of the project. "Food sources can be brought from Laos or the available dishes in Vietnam but it has to be cooked with Laos style. The project will be initially launched in Kontum and then Da Nang. This is a feasible project as the initial investment is not too much. In addition, delivery to the customer is also an advantage of our group”, Linda said. No matter what language to be presented, Vietnamese or English, Linda's team has also successfully finished the presentations in big rounds of applause from other Vietnamese startup teams.

Convinced by the startup movement in Vietnam

Commenting on the Vietnamese startup program, Saiyakone said with the admiration: "The Vietnamese are very aware of startup and many young entrepreneurs have succeeded in business. We would like to learn from them and consider them as a model for startup". “It is rare that the head of the government (Prime Minister) called for the support for startup movement”, Saiyakone added. Many startup funds have been set up to support young people and students on their challenging startup journey. "In Laos, you rarely hear about startup. Most of startup projects are owned by foreigners who come to invest and exploit the strengths of natural resources and tourism. There are only few startup channels and the government is less interested in this issue", Saiyakone said. On the way to conquer “Startup Runway 2018”, Saiyakone group has been enthusiastically supported by the teachers and experts from Cork Institute of Technology (Ireland). "The teachers support us with the business guide. In addition, the University also invited startup experts from Ireland to teach, organize talks and discuss business projects. “If we cannot win this competition, the whole team can still accumulate experience to develop LaoFood in Vietnam", Saiyakone said.