CICON - HCM-SME join forces to chart a new growth path for Vietnamese-Korean SMEs
English - Ngày đăng : 17:40, 27/11/2025
SMEs as the nucleus of cooperation
Ho Chi Minh City boasts a dynamic business ecosystem in which SMEs form the majority and play a pivotal role in job creation, tax contributions, and micro-level innovation. At the meeting, HCM-SME leaders emphasized their intention to work with CICON to create a new “runway” for SME growth - from upgrading digital capabilities and standardizing governance to expanding regional market linkages.
Rather than spreading efforts thin, the two sides proposed focusing on a set of high-impact priorities. First, process digitalization and data utilization will help SMEs raise efficiency, cut costs, and increase automation across sales, operations, and logistics. Second, greening business models in line with environmental standards and sustainable supply chains will provide leverage in international markets. Third, developing the cultural and digital-content industries - where technology meets creativity - will generate high value-added products and services aligned with consumption patterns in major cities.
CICON 2026 in Ho Chi Minh City: from event to collaboration platform
CICON is envisioned not only as a conference and exhibition but as a continuous collaboration platform. CICON 2026 is expected to combine policy dialogues, solution showcases, product-experience zones, and industry-specific B2B matchmaking sessions. Notably, HCM-SME and CICON plan to run a post-event follow-up program to measure outcomes and support businesses to “go further” after the first handshakes. This approach helps avoid “connect and forget,” raising the likelihood that MOUs will turn into actual contracts.
“Ho Chi Minh City is one of the most vibrant destinations in Asia, where entrepreneurial spirit meets creativity. We look forward to partnering with HCM-SME across all areas where we share strengths - from smart cities, AI, and logistics to high-tech agriculture and the content industry. CICON’s spirit is ‘working together, measuring together, and sharing benefits together.’ With CICON 2026 in HCMC, we expect to build an effective B2B platform that leads to concrete projects and sustainable growth for businesses in both countries,” said Mr. Park Bong Kyu, Chairman of the CICON Forum.
Two-way benefits: market – technology - talent
CICON brings connections to technology, experts, and investors from Korea along with an international partner network; HCM-SME offers a large, high-potential market where companies are ready to pilot new models. These streams converge on the need to enhance the competitiveness of Vietnamese SMEs and the market-expansion strategies of Korean firms. Beyond commercial opportunities, the partnership will also elevate managers, engineers, and young designers through joint projects, exchange programs, and internships.
The cooperation story is not only about contracts but about creating inclusive value: boosting productivity, encouraging innovative entrepreneurship, and advancing green standards and a culture of quality across supply chains. When small and medium enterprises gain access to appropriate technology, knowledge, markets, and capital, their ability to participate more deeply in regional value chains increases. This, in turn, makes the local economy more resilient to shocks while opening new space for emerging industries.
“HCM-SME remains committed to turning goodwill into action. We choose a ‘small but sharp’ approach: pilot with real enterprise groups, measure outcomes clearly, then scale up. Our focus is process digitalization, smart logistics, the green economy, and cultural industries - tracks well aligned with Ho Chi Minh City’s economic structure. With our broad membership network and CICON’s support, we believe every meeting will spark a project and every MOU will soon become a contract, creating long-term value for the business community,” said Mr. Pham Van Triem, Chairman of HCM-SME.
The meeting between CICON and HCM-SME lays the groundwork for a substantive phase of cooperation in which SMEs are the drivers of innovation. When technology, creativity, and entrepreneurship are linked by a clear action mechanism, Vietnamese and Korean businesses have what they need to advance together - contributing tangibly to the growth of each side and of the wider region.