Growth room for top technology enterprises

The Ministry of Information and Communications has set a target of 100,000 digital technology enterprises in Việt Nam by 2025, a growth of 56.25 per cent compared to last year.

Technology enterprises, especially those with abundant financial and human resources, have plenty of room for growth in the medium and long term when the demand for information technology in the world remains high and digital transformation in the country is strong in both the business and public administration sectors.

Growth in the software export segment of domestic enterprises remained positive, along with an increase in the number of newly signed contracts.

For example, the software export segment of FPT continued to grow strongly by the end of August this year, with revenue of VNĐ11.73 trillion (US$500 million), equivalent to a growth of 28.7 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Besides, digital transformation in the country is taking place firmly in both the business and public administration sectors.

For the business sector, recently, the Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BIDV) and the Việt Nam Public Joint Stock Commercial Bank (PVcomBank) both have digital transformation projects to support the operation of the banks with CMC Corporation.

Meanwhile, FPT Corporation signed a digital transformation strategic cooperation agreement with Tiên Phong Joint Stock Commercial Bank (TPBank), Tân Long Group Joint Stock Company and Flamingo Group.

In the public administration, the provinces of Nam Định, Thừa Thiên Huế, Đắk Nông, and Hậu Giang have signed a strategic cooperation agreement on comprehensive digital transformation with FPT and CMC.

The telecommunications segment is expected to grow steadily, driven by the growth of broadband internet subscribers by 8-10 per cent and the growth of the television segment on the internet that only provides on-demand service packages (OTT TV) when the entertainment demand through OTT TV is gradually gaining popularity in Việt Nam.

The development of mobile broadband internet, including 4G and 5G, will be a breakthrough step for telecommunications businesses. As a result, KB Việt Nam Securities Co (KBSV) believes that information technology businesses will continue to maintain double-digit growth this year.

Việt Dragon Securities Corporation (VDSC) assessed that Việt Nam's information technology industry currently possesses competitive advantages regarding people participating in the global market.

Specifically, Vietnamese human resources were young and able to adapt to new technologies quickly.

Statistics from HSBC Việt Nam show that the age group from 20 to 29 accounts for 51 per cent of the total number of programmers in Việt Nam.

At the same time, the software development cost of programmers in Việt Nam was much lower than in other countries, only about US$18 per hour, equal to 64 per cent of other Asian countries and 10 per cent of the US.

Therefore, customers from major markets such as the US, Japan, the EU and Asia-Pacific (APAC) have chosen Việt Nam as the ideal destination for cooperation in information technology development.

In the opposite direction, two big technology corporations in Việt Nam, FPT Corporation and CMC Corporation have been exploring potential global markets.

FPT started in Japan, the US, the EU, and APAC markets with software outsourcing services and has gradually moved into the field of digital transformation combined with consulting.

CMC has customers in Japan, the EU and APAC markets. In addition, it expects to develop a new market in Singapore and the US.

Based on the needs and speed of Việt Nam's digital transformation, Fitch Solutions, a macro research unit and an affiliated company of the global credit rating agency Fitch Ratings, forecasted that the size of the Vietnamese information technology market, including hardware equipment and software solutions, would reach VNĐ208 trillion this year and VNĐ370 trillion by 2026, equivalent to a compound growth rate of 15 per cent.

However, in the short term, VDSC noted that fluctuations in the world's macroeconomy might negatively affect the business results prospects of Vietnamese technology companies.

VDSC is concerned that inflation would affect the spending on information technology in the US market. However, VDSC believed that a stronger US dollar could offset this impact.