Members of the Danish-Vietnamese ICT club from Hanoi and HCMC gathered for two days to network, exchange experience and explore new ICT opportunities in Southern Vietnam. Participants included Catglobe Vietnam, TMA Solutions, Celenia Software, IACP Asia, GHP Fareast, EasyBizVietnam, DTT Globeteam, Esoftflow, iNET, Harmony Soft, VINASA, and the Embassy.
Wednesday 14 July, HCMC based members had a useful roundtable discussion at the DECO office in HCMC to discuss possibilities for closer cooperation between the top ICT universities in HCMC and the Danish-Vietnamese companies, for instance by student exchanges, internships and thesis writing by university students while working part-time in the companies. Participants exchanged information on existing and future programmes and agreed to meet bilaterally to initiate new arrangements to the benefit of both the companies, universities, and of course the students as possible future staff in the companies.
ICT club members from Hanoi and HCMC visited Quang Trung Software City, where 98 ICT companies and more than 1000 people work towards making the software city an international hub for ICT development
Thursday 15th July, the delegation visited the annual ICT Outlook and Vietnam Computer Electronics World Expo. There were more than 400 exhibitors in the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center and it was estimated to be visited by over 250,000 people. At the grand opening, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan proclaimed that Vietnam should speedily adopt e-government to simplify administrative procedures and that Vietnam will soon allow companies to join the e-government program that is currently financed by the state. Nikon, MSI, Samsung, Canon and Sony were among the exhibitors at the expo, but also many smaller international and Vietnamese companies showcased their latest technologies.
After a quick lunch the trip went on to VNG (until recently known as VinaGames), which is a major Vietnamese software developer of games and software, such as ZingChat, ZingMP3 and numerous games, available at more than 80 pct. of Vietnam’s internet cafes, according to Business Developer Victor Lam Thang Loi. The company expanded from just five employees in 2004 to over a thousand employees today, and has experienced annual growth rates of more than 40 percent, making VNG the leading domestic online game provider in Vietnam today.
The delegation then visited the Quang Trung Software City – a major software park established in 2001 and situated between the Tan Son Airport and HCMC city centre. It is the only software park in Vietnam, and currently has 98 companies of which more than half are Vietnamese. The visit included a park presentation and meetings with three of the companies with offices in the park; Global Cybersoft Vietnam, TMA Solutions and Swiss IT Bridge.
The Embassy has taken initiative to the establishment of the Danish-Vietnamese ICT club which at present has 26 members based in Denmark, Hanoi and HCMC. The club meets 5-6 times a year to network and exchange experiences in ICT.
