VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is facing a great information-communication technology development challenge as it lacks skilled human resources and the experience neccessary to make long-term policy, said chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children.

Speaking at the two-day forum on ICT opened in Ha Noi yesterday, Thi said this event was aimed at providing a platform for scientists, government leaders and business people from foreign countries to exchange updated knowledge and experiences on ICT.

He expecy(d participants would discuss opportunities, challenges, solutions and a roadmap for ICT development in Viet Nam as there are many foreign corporations interested in investing in the country’s software enterprises.

Master plan

“However, the country’s ICT development is still not up to its potential and conditions are not as favourable as they could be,” said Thi.

“Therefore, the challenges of unleashing the potential of Viet Nam’s ICT industry in a dynamic, globalised and increasingly competitive world requires innovative ideas accompanied by human resources developmen,” he stressed.

In recent years, the rate of domestic ICT development has been quite high. The revenue of the ICT sector in 2007 was estimated to be over US$3.6 billion.

The hardware industry has attracted many large investors and manufacturers such as Intel, Cannon and HP.

Viet Nam has recently carried out a number of ICT projects and a master plan for the ICT human resource development till 2020, but there still exist problems and challenges in the industry.

At the forum, participants will focus on discussing issues and challenges of the ICT industry relevant with dissemination, education and training.

According to Deputy Director of Hanoi National University Vu Minh Giang, Vietnamese ICT experts would discuss problems challenging the Vietnamese Government such as intellectual property and strategies for ICT competitiveness, quality of human resources, insourcing and outsourcing, and ICT’s effect to social issues.

The forum is the second of its kind held in Ha Noi. Many domestic ICT experts and representatives from foreign countries including the US, France, Germany, South Korea, Japan, India, Thailand and China are attending.

(Source: VNS)