What are Vietnam’s initiatives on IT cooperation, application, and development under the ASEM framework?
During ASEM 5, Vietnam proposed the organisation of the annual ASEM ICT Ministerial Meeting and was the first country to host the meeting.
Many ASEM members have developed ICT, and thus have been able to share their experiences with other developing members. We are witnessing the high speed of ICT development in Vietnam. However, we’re in need of commercialising our ICT products and further improving our human resources quality to get closer to our developmental level.
Participating in the ICT meetings, we have had chances to learn more experience from other countries successful in ICT. Therefore, we make the most of talks between Ministers and business circles to spread ICT to remote and rural areas with a view to narrowing the information gap in the digital age.
Could you please let us know cooperation outcomes of the meeting?
Before the meeting, foreign businessmen came to discuss cooperation opportunities with some Vietnamese IT companies namely FPT, Vietsoft, VNPT and more. It can be said that the integration of telecommunications and IT of Vietnam is attractive to foreign businessmen. And foreign businessmen also accompanied ministers to the meeting.
Is it possible that the ASEM ICT Ministerial Meeting will be held annually?
This is a proposal launched by Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem in his meeting with ASEM ministers. The issue will be discussed in detail.
The year of Vietnam’s ICT market is going to end. Do you have any thoughts about the ICT market in 2007?
Vietnam’s ICT has reached rather high speed in 2006. I hope that Vietnam will keep that pace. Foreign companies will strengthen cooperation with Vietnam. In 2007, we will focus on service quality rather than the number of subscribers. This will force our companies to raise their competitiveness, mainly in service quality and customer care.
How about investment flow into Vietnam in the WTO period?
The FDI and ODA in telecommunications were about 1.8 billion USD and 500 million USD, respectively. Intel has just invested 1 billion USD in chip production. Fujitsu joint venture exports about 1 billion USD every year.
Domestic companies pay more attention to ICT application, laying a good foundation for Vietnam’s ICT development. In the WTO period, Vietnam will realise its commitments to attract more investors and businessmen. Foreign companies can participate in various forms of investment and cooperation such as by buying stock, making business contracts, and setting up joint ventures with Vietnamese companies with network infrastructure. Foreign companies can set up joint ventures with Vietnamese service providers with unlimited contribution in the coming time. It is sure that cooperation between domestic and foreign companies will be strengthened.
What are the government’s policies to raise the competitiveness of Vietnam’s business circle during international ICT integration?
Most of Vietnam’s ICT companies are small. To make ICT become a key industry, it is necessary to invest in companies. This doesn’t mean investment in state owned companies only. The government encourages all economic sectors to participate in ICT development. It is hoped that more small- and medium-sized enterprises will play a part in and benefit from favorable conditions for them.
Source: VietnamNet
