They attended a seminar as part of the event with a focus on the Vietnamese market and human resources  development for long-term IT cooperation between the two countries.

They heard reports on the trends of Japan’s software outsourcing developments, Vietnam’s IT industry and its potential. Representatives from the Vietnam Software Association (VINASA) and the Vietnam-Japan Information Technology Cooperation Club (VJC) delivered speeches on prospects for IT cooperation between the two countries.

Nguyen Doan Hung, VJC President, said that despite difficulties, Vietnam’s software outsourcing market for Japan achieved impressive growth from 0.4 percent in 2004 to nearly 4 percent in 2009. Therefore, there are a lot of cooperative opportunities to fulfil business potential in the IT field, he said

Developing high quality human resources is considered a prerequisite for boosting cooperation among Japanese and Vietnamese businesses. However, shortcomings remain in terms of personnel qualifications, language barrier, business environment, and working skills.

Nguyen Xuan Phong, Vice Rector of FPT University, said that high quality IT training programmes which meet international standards are very important at present. Yet, the number of IT enrolments in recent years has decreased from over 10 percent in 2008 to 6.8 percent in 2011.

During the event, VINASA also announced its first list of software industries and IT services ranked by the VINASA Ranking System (VRS) based on the Japanese Skill Standards for IT Professionals (ITSS) and the European Certification of Informatics Professionals (EUCIP).