Vietnam’s software industry lacks human resources

Photo: thongtincongnghe.com

A lack of suitable human resources is still the biggest hurdle holding back the development of software firms in Vietnam, says a survey.

The survey, conducted by the Vietnam Software Association (Vinasa) and the US IDG’s International Data Company (IDC), pointed out other difficulties that Vietnam ’s software industry is facing including the country’s information technology (IT) infrastructure and a lack of foreign language skills.

Vietnam also lacks a comprehensive national strategy for developing and building up a trademark to gain a foothold in the global software market, according to the survey which was released at a workshop on Vietnam ’s software industry in Hanoi on August 24.

The first comprehensive survey on the software industry was conducted nationwide in May and June and involved 149 software companies, including 19 foreign-invested firms. It was sponsored by the Danish Embassy, the Danish Federation of Industries and the Danish IT Association.

According to the survey, Vietnam ’s software industry has a great potential, but still faces a lot of challenges. The industry is seen as a leading high-tech economic sector which plays an important role in the economy, and subsequently it is targeting earnings of 800 million USD by 2010.

Despite the high expectations, efforts and solutions to ensure a brighter future for the industry have not been successful.

Additionally, up to 40 percent of software companies did not know about two key programmes to develop Vietnam ’s software industry or the content of Vietnam ’s digital industrial development plans until 2010, said the survey.

The survey stated that 2009 has been a difficult year for software businesses. Only 36 percent of firms are likely to obtain a sustainable growth, equal to or slightly higher than last year’s figure. The remainder said their growth would be lower.

However, the survey said that the second quarter of this year showed some positive signs, which will lead to further development later this year. The years 2010, 2011 and the following years are expected to have good prospects due to new policies coming into effect and an increase in the demand for software.

The survey forecast that this year’s revenues from software will be 680 million USD.

Thanks to the survey, Vinasa will have policies and solutions to promote the software industry, to submit to the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications and the Government. Vinasa will make annual assessments to help build a better environment for the industry.