With leading software companies signing a slew of foreign contracts, the industry is eyeing a 60 per cent growth rate this year.

The industry said the market has shown signs of strong recovery since last year.

Analysts attributed the increase in foreign deals to Viet Nam’s capabilities in areas like information and communications technology, factory automation, and embedded systems.

Companies like TMA Solutions, CSC Viet Nam, Global Cybersoft, and LogiGear said the number of foreign contracts has risen dramatically.

Nguyen Huu Le, chairman of TMA Solutions, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the company hosted foreign executives every week and closed half of all deals it negotiated on average.

It has recruited around 150 engineers for contracts signed in the last four months, at an average of 20 per project, he said, without revealing the value of the deals.

Ngo Van Toan, deputy director of Global Cybersoft, said his company has recruited hundreds of engineers this year for contracts mainly with European and Japanese clients.

Recently the Vietnamese software industry has seen an influx of international companies like HP, Aricent, and Bosch.

Nguyen Quoc Hung, chairman of LogiGear Corporation, said the development of software testing in the country has boosted the confidence of the software industry.

Shortage of engineers

However, companies are concerned about the shortage of IT engineers, especially since many of them are in need of personnel at the same time.

Hung said it took four months to train an IT graduate into an efficient software engineer.

His company, which plans to hire 300 engineers, tied up with universities in HCM City last year and opened a training centre in Da Nang.

Source: VNS