Penetrating overseas IT markets

Nearly half of the more than 100 enterprises operating in the Quang Trung Software City (QTSC) are from these countries, which are now considered the IT powerhouses in the world.

Now is a good time for local enterprises to seek cooperation opportunities with these countries, says Lam Vu Hai Long, QTSC Deputy Director.

However, it also poses many challenges as most Vietnamese IT companies are small and medium sized and the country’s IT industry is in its infancy.

To gain a share in these markets, Long says, Vietnamese companies have to thoroughly understand their partner’s business culture.

J. Cheon from the RoK’s Soongsil University, shares this opinion, saying that in 2009, his country’s top electronic group, LG, dismissed all of its business department managers for not fully understanding the consumption habits of Asian people, resulting in ineffective business strategies.

Last year, more than 270 Japanese businesses invested in Vietnam and hundreds of others have been seeking opportunities in the country in the first quarter of this year.

Osato Kauhiko, Director of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), says this is an optimistic signal for Vietnamese enterprises. However, he notes that it normally takes Japanese businesses two to three years to understand their partners before penning contracts.

Herb Cochran, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Vietnam, says that the US is a multicultural country and its businesses always welcome others with unique cultural values and potential human resources.

Cochran suggests that Vietnamese businesses do their research well and develop their employees’ skills.