Vietnam's IT Industry Expects Very Open Market and Policies
On the fringe of the recent Vietnam IT Week and Computer Expo 2006, Vietnam Business Forum reporter Nguyen Thoa had a conversation with Deputy Minister of Posts and Telematics Vu Duc Dam about operation orientations of the IT industry when Vietnam is admitted to the WTO.
After joining the WTO, which fields of the ICT industry will Vietnam focus on?
Possibly, except from certain changes in telecom services exploitation and telecom network development, the IT sector will not be considerably affected. The Vietnamese IT industry will continue speeding up what it has done for the domestic market and will continue accelerating IT applications in the community, outsourcing software for international partners, developing digital content industry and others.
Does the IT industry have any plan for attracting foreign investment?
We should attract investment into all fields, not only several ones. When foreign investors assess a field or an enterprise or even a product, they will consider the investment if it is potential. Therefore, all sectors must add more efforts to improve the technologies and expand the market. The Ministry of Posts and Telematics will cooperate with other economic sectors to improve the investment environment in Vietnam to widen channels for investment inflows. This is a way of attracting investment capital for the IT industry.
What can Vietnam do to further attract indirect investment for the IT industry?
One of the typical points of indirect investment is the capital is very liquid. They can rush to invest but they can also withdraw capital expeditiously if they find the investment is not good. With its development to date, the Vietnamese IT industry is unlikely to see an investment rush but it can attract huge sources of finance if it is oriented on the right track. Therefore, it is very important to show investors consistent and transparent legal documents of the IT industry. The industry also needs to develop high-level human resources to meet the high demand of the market, including the build-up of excellent and visionary IT leaders and managers.
As a manager, could you brief us about new policies of the Vietnamese Government to help IT companies?
In the IT field, both the market and the policy of Vietnam are very open. Two decrees about IT applications in State administration organs and a decree to detail several articles of the upcoming IT Law about the IT industry are also aimed to help organisations and IT companies to carry out related activities better and more methodically. It can be said that all legal documents of Vietnam are aimed to create an open and easy-approaching environment to develop the IT industry although Vietnam joins the WTO or not.
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