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| Kenji Ogawa (L), vice chairman of the Information Technology Promotion Agency (IPA-Japan), and Pham Tan Cong (R), general secretary of Vinasa, congratulate each other on the signing of the MOU on development of the human resource valuation system applicable to Vietnam ICT enterprises - Photo: Hien Nguyen |
HCMC – Japanese information and communication technology enterprises are coming back to Vietnam to grasp business opportunities after an interruption caused by the financial crisis since end-2008, heard the Vietnam Japan IT Day in the city on Monday.
The event, organized by the Vietnam Software Association (Vinasa) and Vinasa Japan IT Cooperation Club, is attended by about 50 Japanese enterprises like NEC, GDS and Cybozu, Pham Tan Cong, general secretary of Vinasa, told the Daily on the sidelines of the event.
Many Japanese ICT firms shut down their Vietnam branches in the aftermath of the crisis, Cong said, and 2009 was a tough year for the Japanese ICT industry although Japan was a huge market with annual turnover of US$130 billion.
Vietnam’s software outsourcing sector also felt the impact of the Japanese ICT sector’s woes since it is recognized as the third largest partner of Japanese firms.
FPT, the country’s biggest ICT enterprise, was hurt when ICT companies of Japan left Vietnam; about 56% of its revenue came from Japan’s market.
“A tough period seems to be over. On Tuesday Japan ICT companies are back to Vietnam and they are searching for new partners and new business opportunities,” Cong noted.
Since early this year, he added, Vietnamese and Japanese ICT companies have exchanged many business matching trips and clinched a lot of high-value deals. “It’s a good sign for the Vietnam software outsourcing sector.”
Hiromi Sugiyama, vice chairman of the Japan Information Technology Service Industry Association, said the worst for Japan’s ICT industry was over and that it was time for it to explore new partners and business deals.
Vietnam’s software outsourcing segment is recognized as a key partner of Japan, Sugiyama said, adding embedded software development, business application software development and data entry were in need of Vietnamese firms.
He said Japan’s offshore outsourcing volume grew rapidly, from US$1.37 billion in 2004 to US$4.33 billion in 2008. Vietnam ICT enterprises are mostly likely to gain slice of this huge pie.
“Japan is a serious market. To win a contract from the market, Vietnam ICT companies should enhance the quality of IT developers’ skills and of services,” he noted.
On Monday saw Vinasa signing a memorandum of understanding with the Information- Technology Promotion Agency (IPA-Japan) to promote the human resource valuation system in Vietnam ICT enterprises.
IPA will provide technical support for Vinasa to build up the system and deploy it by early 2011.
In a related development, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) in Vietnam on Monday launched a campaign to promote its information technology products here in the local market.
The Taiwan Excellence campaign is organized by TAITRA and supported by 17 selective Taiwan information technology brands including ASUS, MSI, D-link, BenQ, Genius and Optoma.
TAITRA said it would organize a Taiwan information technology expo in HCMC next month to promote its products locally.
The Ministry of Information and Communications reported that between 2000 and 2009, Vietnam’s IT industry grew at double digits, 20-25% a year.
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