Binh, in an interview with the local press, said that opportunities for Vietnamese technology firms to develop technological products and solutions exist. However, Binh believes that at this moment Vietnam has bigger advantages than other regional countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia to develop technology firms.

The US-China trade war brings certain favorable conditions to Vietnam’s technology, because it has prompted the US’s large technology firms to relocate production out of China, bringing knowledge, experience and technology to other countries, including Vietnam.

International experts all predict that Vietnam will be the new destination for US technology firms that want to leave China.

“This is a great opportunity for Vietnam. However, I personally am not too optimistic about this to think that Vietnam will be able to gain from the opportunity,” he commented.

Binh said the favorable conditions brought by the tensions in the US-China trade relations seemed to come unexpectedly, and Vietnam’s technology firms still are not well prepared for this.

While the trade war is bringing advantages, he also warns of the negative impact. Some countries may flock to Vietnam to do business as they see great opportunities in Vietnam. They will bring capital and workers who will compete with Vietnamese workers.

“I can see early signs of a movement of young Asian people migrating to regional countries. This will pose a big threat to Vietnamese workers, who will have to scramble with foreign workers for jobs in the home market,” he said.

“It may happen that technology products are made in Vietnam, but made by South Korea and China. There are many Chinese and South Korean people coming to Vietnam to look for job opportunities,” he said.

Having been operational in the IT industry for 15 years, NextTech Group has built an ecosystem with 20 products, with focus in three major fields – e-commerce, fintech and logistics services.

Commenting about ‘Make in Vietnam’ program initiated by the Ministry of Information and Communication, Binh said the most important thing to ensure successful implementation is the labor force.

“The capability of the labor force depends on many factors, including education that produces highly qualified workers and a policy that creates a favorable business environment for technology firms,” he said.

Regarding policies, the State should give more incentives to businesses which can create products and export packaged products and technological services. Doing outsourcing can generate jobs, but creating products will bring higher added value. 

Le Ha

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