VietNamNet Bridge – Participants at a conference hosted last Friday by the HCM City’s Department of Information and Communications discussed ways to develop more software parks in HCM City and other locations around the country.

The 10 software parks now operating in Vietnam can neither meet the Government’s target annual growth rate of 35-40 per cent, nor be expected to bring in a total annual revenue of US$1.5 billion for the IT industry in 2010.

However, Nguyen Minh Hong, deputy minister of Information and Communication, worries that the national goals for IT development are not realistic given the small number of software parks that have been built since 2005.

The 10 software parks now operating in Vietnam can neither meet the Government’s target annual growth rate of 35-40 per cent, nor be expected to bring in a total annual revenue of US$1.5 billion for the IT industry in 2010.

If no significant improvement is made in workers’ skills or infrastructure in the next five years, the country’s software parks would not be able to pull in an annual revenue of US$800 million, said Dwight Paul Lam, a representative of the Vietnam-Japan Powersource Group.

With its current infrastructure, it will take Vietnam seven to eight years to become an important player in the global software industry, Lam said. It took China and India 10 and 15 years, respectively, to reach their targets.

The model of the software park was developed in powerful countries and territories like India, mainland China, Russia and Taiwan, but the term “software park” only appeared in Vietnam after Government Decision No. 7 in 2000.

However, there are signs for optimism as construction of many new parks is scheduled or underway through 2012, including the Hoa Lac Software Park in Hanoi, the FPT Software Park in Da Nang, Thu Thiem Software Park and a project to expand, the Quang Trung Software City.

Software parks are playing an increasingly important role in developing IT and attracting IT investment and enterprises into the country. In the last two years, they brought in investments of VND2 trillion (US$125 million), a four-fold increase over the 2000-2005 period.

Many investors need more space to expand their business. New parks under construction should replicate the most effective models of existing software parks, according to Chu Tien Dung, head of the HCM City Computer Association and Quang Trung Software City. Preferential policies and support from the Government are essential for further development.

(Source: Viet Nam News)