Fiercer competition is expected in the information communication technology sector when Viet Nam joins the WTO, said Deputy Minister of Post and Telematics Tran Duc Lai.

ICT and telecoms has long been the sector considered most likely to deal well with the country’s WTO inclusion.

However, Lai said that Vietnamese enterprises would face many challenges in the integration process. For a start, the service market would become more open than it is under the current US-Viet Nam Bilateral Agreement, leading to greater competition, particularly if the country does not see an immediate increase in network infrastructure.

But one of the greatest challenges facing Vietnamese businesses in this sector would be the move to allow foreign partners to increase their contributed capital in joint ventures, thus giving them greater management capabilities.

"Therefore, Vietnamese enterprises should continue improving their competitiveness by restructuring their operations and business management while luring greater investment and accumulating capital," Lai said.

He added that locals firms should work faster to expand the size of their domestic market by offering improved services at attractive prices, while looking to penetrate overseas markets.

Lai said that in the past few years, Viet Nam had worked to create favourable conditions for the country’s entry into the WTO, by trying to create a dynamic environment that would support companies yet at the same time put pressure on enterprises to improve their competitive edge.

It has worked to create measures that will protect local business interests, during its negotiations to reach bilateral and multilateral agreements with members of the WTO.

However, successful integration would be completely based on enterprises’ efforts, Lai said.

"If Vietnamese companies are being overly optimistic or subjective, they need to rethink matters. But at the same time we should not be too pessimistic in this regard because enterprises involved in telecommunications and ICT have had a long time to prepare for the competition they will face."

According to experts, after 20 years of renewal, post and telecommunications has become one of the country’s leading sectors in the global integration process. Up until now, the country’s postal and telecommunications network has become connected to every other country, with technology and service standards compatible with that of the global network.

But linking to the rest of the world goes further than technological networks: Vietnamese enterprises will need to be ready to deal with international regulations, and to share their success with foreign firms.

Meanwhile, the production, export and import of telecommunications and ICT equipment is one area expected to face increased competition in the very near future.

During the past few years, the State has reduced the level of subsidies in this field, allowing and creating more favourable conditions for foreign firms to operate in.

As a result, electronics, telecommunications and ICT products made by Vietnamese companies account for a major proportion of these goods being sold on the domestic market, and some are already being exported to other countries

Source: VietnamNews