VietNamNet Bridge – Affirming their capability to provide the technological solutions to the socio-economic issues, but technology groups said they have been put at a disadvantage, which may make them defeated on the home market.

“Will Vietnamese technology firms be able to solve the information technology problems?” is the question that Vuong Dinh Hue, Head of the Central Economics Committee has raised many times to Vietnamese enterprises.

The question was once again posed at the meeting between him and information technology groups, the members of Vinasa, the software and information technology service association some days ago.

“In terms of technology capability, we can absolutely can,” said Truong Gia Binh, Chair of Vinasa, who is also the Chair and CEO of FPT Group, the biggest technology group in Vietnam.

However, Binh said, the problem lies in the fact if the management agencies and the Vietnamese business circle really want to use domestic technologies.

“Technology solutions have been ready. The problem now is how to utilize the technologies,” Binh said.

Citing the solutions for the traffic control, Binh said the special conditions of the transport and traffic in Vietnam would require “very Vietnamese” solutions.

“People know where they can meet traffic policemen. Therefore, they only respect the laws in the places where they find policemen. However, the problem can be settled with reasonable technology solutions,” Binh said.

“It’s necessary to set up cameras which record the violations of the traffic laws. The violators would receive tickets for their violations. And they will abstain from making violations if they get some 10 tickets every months,” he added.

The chair of Vinasa showed the head of the central economics committee a video clip, proving that a smart traffic system management can identify tens of motorbikes on crowded and noisy roads at the same time and find out the violations.

Similar solutions have also suggested for e-government, healthcare or education sectors.

VInasa’s member companies have affirmed that they can absolutely compete technologically in the world market.

According to Phan Chien Thang, President of Elcom, a firm specializing in telecom solutions, the big Chinese rivals like Huawei or ZTE, usually have respect for Vietnamese firms. “In the competition for international contracts, we are sure by 75 percent of winning the bids,” Thang said.

President of Hai Hoa Software Company--Nguyen Nhat Quang, said most of the software products for designing traffic signs, the pipelines at petrochemical refineries in North Europe are deigned by Hai Hoa.

“However, I don’t know if domestic enterprises, like the national oil and gas group PetroVietnam knows that we have the software,” Quang said.

Vinasa, which represents a software firm, said that while its member companies can compete well in the international market, they may easily lose on the home market.

Quang from Hai Hoa said that most software firms target both the domestic and foreign markets, like they have to stand on two legs. And they have to develop one of the two – the foreign markets – more than the other.

The problem is, according to VInasa, the government and the Vietnamese business circle don’t believe in the capability of domestic enterprises.

“In many cases, foreign firms won the international bids invited by Vietnamese enterprises. And then the foreign contractors hired domestic firms to undertake the works as sub-contractors,” Thang said. In these cases, Vietnamese technology firms have to take a roundabout to approach domestic investors.

NCDT