IT industry’s future far from certain

The nation’s five-year plan to change the IT industry from being assemblers to producing their own core products would not be an easy task, domestic information technology specialists say.

They were responding to the Government’s draft plan, due to be publised by next month, which targets a shift in the IT industry from being a nation of assemblers for foreign companies to designing and supplying their own core products.

In the years from 2015-20, the plan will focus on designing and producing components and spare parts and enhancing the parts and accessory production industries, plus gradually developing product research.

The Ministry of Information and Communications said electronics and IT hardware assembly using foreign products accounted for the major part of the IT industry, but added value remained modest.

The supporting industries – to supply the parts – had not yet been developed or attracted investment in Viet Nam.

And even when assembly companies use foreign parts, production quality failed to reach international standards, said Nguyen Trong Duong, acting director of the IT Department of the Ministry of Information and Communications.

However, experts said to change from assembly to manufacturing the core products would require a major effort.

In fact, Nguyen Xuan Quynh, a member of the National Policy and Science Council said that it would take longer than five years for Viet Nam’s IT industry to move to core production.

It would require more time and a greater effort to manufacture the basic chips to escape dependence on foreign producers, Quynh said.

Today, the assembly industry in Viet Nam has partly succeeded with computer and TV brands such as CMS, FPT, VTC and VTB and Tien Dat DVD players.

But little thought and investment had been committed to “designing devices”.

A foreign company specialist said that when PCs were assembled from imported accessories, circuit boards and chips, Viet Nam would not be a master of technology.

It was expected that in the third quarter of this year, the ministry would announce specific policies to encourage the IT industry to focus on developing core technology and building pilot models.

Giant telecos Viettel and Viet Nam Post and Telecoms Group were expected to participate in the plan.

Viet Nam News

Tags: Vietnam IT, Vietnam IT industry