FPT's CEO: "Vietnam has the confidence to solve difficult challenges for the Japanese."

On May 16, Mr. Nguyen Van Khoa, Chairman of the Vietnam Software & IT Services Association (VINASA) and CEO of FPT Corporation, delivered an opening speech at the 10th Vietnam IT Day 2023 event in Tokyo, Japan. It was one of the activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan.

The event was attended by Japanese IT agencies and associations such as JISA (Japan Information Technology Services Industry Association) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan. From the Vietnamese side, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, Deputy Director of the Department of Information Technology and Communication Industry, Ministry of Information and Communications, was at the event. There were also The Vietnam Embassy in Japan, 20 Vietnamese companies, and nearly 150 Japanese companies participated in the event.

The CEO of FPT began his speech by saying, "Last year, a Vietnamese technology company achieved a billion-dollar revenue for the first time from the international market. Yet, that very same company, over twenty years ago, had left the United States and India, closing its offices."

Mr. Nguyen Van Khoa delivered the opening speech at the Vietnam IT Day 2023 event.

With limited resources, including enthusiasm, determination, and basic Japanese language skills, this company arrived in Japan and successfully signed its first contracts. As a result, Japanese businesses opened doors and provided support not only to this company but also to the Vietnamese technology business community.

The Chairman of VINASA stated that from that day on, the Japanese market was opened up to Vietnamese IT companies. In the following years, there was sweet fruit and breakthrough development in the cooperation between the two countries.

In the 2000s, Vietnam had yet to build any brand name in Japan's technology field. Then, Vietnamese business delegations would travel to Japan individually or in small groups, with only 1-2 representatives to save on expenses. However, after nearly two decades, Vietnam has emerged as the second-largest IT partner of Japan, with over 500 companies providing IT services to Japan. Among them are more than ten companies with more than 1,000 employees, dozens of companies with 500-1,000 employees, and hundreds of companies with 100-500 employees. These companies have experienced growth rates of 20-30%.

What's noteworthy is that in the past, Vietnamese individuals were only mainly involved in programming, coding, and testing. However, nowadays, the Japanese have entrusted Vietnamese professionals with supplying end-to-end services, from research, consulting, and design to customer support and operation. Some Vietnamese companies now have 300 consulting experts. A few companies have even built unique best-shore models, combining engineers in Vietnam (offshore) and Japanese engineers (nearshore) to provide the fastest, uninterrupted services while ensuring safety and security.

In parallel with the increasing activities in Japan, the IT and telecommunications sector in Vietnam has also experienced significant development. In 2022, the revenue of the ICT industry was projected to reach $148 billion, representing a growth rate of 8.7% compared to 2021. Considering the software and IT services sector alone, the revenue has increased from $50 million in 2000 to over $15 billion in 2022, with nearly 400,000 programmers.

The event welcomed over 200 guests, including representatives from Japanese IT agencies, associations, and businesses.

"We have a proud past, and I believe the future will bring even stronger and more effective cooperation between Vietnam and Japan. Together, we will create happiness for people and businesses, where with the data intelligence's power, they can achieve what they want with just a touch. Let's seize the unprecedented opportunities before us," emphasized Mr. Khoa.

According to Mr. Khoa, there are three opportunities where Vietnamese businesses are expanding their positions, which are also the three hotspots of global digital transformation. They are: maintaining SAP/S4Hana or Microsoft Dynamics 365 systems worldwide, migrating from the Cobol language to modern languages, and developing software for electric vehicles.

Another opportunity is digital transformation collaboration to address primary challenges for Japan and Vietnam through 'Society 5.0'. In recent years, the world has been implementing Level 1 digital transformation - the automating operations - to free workers from mundane tasks, increase productivity, and optimize businesses' profits. However, Vietnamese enterprises have the methods and resources to pursue higher-level digital transformation - the automating touchpoints between consumers and enterprises, citizens and governments, and businesses with other businesses.

Concluding his presentation, Mr. Khoa proposed that with their strengths, VINASA suggested that Japanese companies should entrust the most challenging problems to Vietnamese businesses to receive the most innovative solutions.

"With a 50-year foundation of Vietnam-Japan relations, I believe that the cooperation potential between the two countries knows no bounds, opening up a new era of cooperation for rapid development and sustainability. Together, we will globalize," emphasized the CEO of FPT.

First organized in 2013, Vietnam IT Day is part of an annual series of events jointly organized by VINASA and Japanese IT associations and organizations, including Vietnam IT Day (in Tokyo), SODEC Exhibition (in Tokyo), Japan ICT Day (in Vietnam), with the mission of promoting IT cooperation between the two countries. 2023 marks the 10th year of the program organized by the Vietnamese business community collaborating with Japanese partners and also commemorates the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic relations.

In September 1973, Japan and Vietnam established diplomatic relations. Since then, the friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries have continued to develop in various fields, including politics, economics, culture, and sports, from the national leadership level to the grassroots level. In 2023, Japan and Vietnam will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. The well considering "limitless potential" relationship between the two countries is moving towards a period of remarkable development.