'A Dark Horse'
HO CHI MINH CITY -- There's a dark horse in the information technology outsourcing market: Vietnam.
Quietly, this country of 84 million is emerging as an alternative destination for the world's biggest IT manufacturers and innovators. Fujitsu is already making circuit boards here; Intel is spending $300 million on a chip assembling and testing plant; and Novellus Systems, a chip-making equipment designer, may soon follow suit with a factory of its own. Vietnam's entrepreneurs are returning in droves from overseas to set up shop around Ho Chi Minh City, a growing technology hub.
As in China and India, Vietnam's government has long recognized IT as a key industry. IT companies -- both foreign and domestic -- enjoy fast-track investment licensing, as well as favorable tax regimes. The newly-constructed Saigon High Tech Park offers IT companies a four-year business income tax exemption, starting from the first year of profitability, and a 50% reduction for the following nine years. There's also an import duty exemption for equipment not available in Vietnam in the works. The country's top policy makers signal their favor for the industry in subtle ways: When Bill Gates visited Hanoi during the Party Congress this May, Vietnamese leaders, in a rare gesture of respect to a nonhead-of-state, took a recess from the Congress to meet with him.
Vietnam enjoys natural advantages in today's global marketplace. Labor costs here are some of the lowest in the region and the literacy rate -- at 94% -- is one of the highest in the world. The population is young, too, and eager to get ahead. The post-war baby boom boosted the population to well over 80 million people, the vast majority of which are 30 years old or younger.
The favorable investment conditions have led many overseas Vietnamese, known as "Viet Kieu," to return to their country of birth to start IT companies. Many boast years of industry experience, helping to jumpstart an industry that barely existed in Vietnam a decade ago. In 1999, I started Glass Egg Digital Media, a game-outsourcing company, after four years of working for a multimedia company in San Francisco. Another IT immigrant, Lac Trinh, founded Arrival Technologies, a Ho Chi Minh City-based telecom chip design company. Mr. Trinh was a former Chief Technology Officer of Next Level Communications. Le Nguyen, the founder of TMA, a telecom software development and quality assurance company, was formerly a vice president at Northern Telecom. And so on.
There are challenges ahead. The quality of Vietnamese university graduates is generally poor, raising questions about how quickly they might profit from the IT industry. According to the Ministry of Post and Telecom, there are 62 universities and colleges in Vietnam, pumping out 8,500 to 9,000 bachelors of science graduates; 500 masters of science; and 50 doctorates in computer-related fields annually. However, in a recent survey of IT employers conducted by Nhan Dan, a major newspaper in Vietnam, only 10 to 15% of the graduates were considered "job ready." Employers find many to have inadequate English competency, a lack of team work ability and poor communication skills. What's more, the supply of employable graduates isn't keeping up with demand.
There are some encouraging signs that the government is moving to address this issue. In April of this year, the Ministry of Education and Training issued a circular that effectively made IT education a mandatory core course in high school, starting in the 2006-2007 school year. The document details that each high school is to have a computer center with at least 25 computers connected to the Internet.
Vietnam also faces a stiff challenge from its larger regional neighbors, India and China. While labor costs are rising, the scale of production in, say, China, keeps its IT producers price-competitive. To compete effectively with these giants, Vietnam's IT companies need to find their market niche. A highly specialized service where price is secondary to quality may allow smaller firms to effectively compete with bigger ones. Also, a higher value-added service often means higher prices and higher barriers to entry; Vietnamese IT firms might follow this strategy.
Vietnam's small but growing IT outsourcing industry is far from a global powerhouse today. But if it continues to attract investment and invests in its own human resources and domestic entrepreneurs, it could have a bright future.
Mr. Tran is the CEO and founder of Glass Egg Digital Media, a game company based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
IT外包市场上的“一匹黑马”
在信息技术外包市场上有一匹黑马：越南。
不声不响地，这个拥有8,400万人口的国家正崛起为全球最大的IT生产商和IT创新企业外包其业务的替代目的地。富士通(Fujitsu)已经在这里生产电路板；英特尔公司(Intel)正斥资3亿美元兴建一座芯片封装和测试工厂；而芯片生产设备设计商Novellus Systems可能很快将步英特尔的后尘，在越南建立自己的工厂。越南的企业家们正纷纷从海外返回祖国，在日益成为科技产业中心的胡志明市开设自己的小企业。
像中国和印度一样，越南政府早就将IT业视为一项重要产业。只要是IT公司，无论是内资还是外资企业，都可以享受快速投资审批以及优惠的税收待遇。在新落成的西贡高科技园区，IT公司从获得盈利的第一年起将可连续4年免缴企业所得税，此后的9年内企业所得税也可减半缴纳。 企业所需设备如果无法在越南获得而需要进口的，可以免缴进口关税。越南的领导人以一种精明的方式表达了他们对信息技术产业的厚爱：当比尔?盖茨(Bill Gates)今年5月在越南共产党全国代表大会召开期间访问河内时，越南的领导人暂停出席会议接见了他，这是对一位非国家领导人的罕见礼遇。
在当今的全球市场上越南具备一些先天优势。该国的劳动力成本在亚太地区属于最低之列，而该国达94%的识字率则可排在世界各国的前列。越南人的平均年龄也不高，他们都渴望获得成功。越战后出现的婴儿潮使该国人口远超过了8,000万，大部分越南人的年龄都不超过30岁。
有利的投资环境已吸引许多海外越南人返回祖国创办IT企业。这些人不少都有多年的IT业从业经验，他们的回归帮助10年前还几乎不存在的越南IT产业得以起步。我本人在旧金山一家多媒体公司工作4年以后于1999年创办了Glass Egg Digital Media这家游戏外包公司。另一位从海外归来的IT业人士Lac Trinh则在胡志明市创办了电信芯片设计公司Arrival Technologies。Trinh曾担任Next Level Communications公司的首席技术官。创办TMA这家电信软件开发和质量保证公司的Le Nguyen曾担任Northern Telecom的副总裁。诸如此类的情况还有很多。
未来的道路上依然存在挑战。越南大学生的质量普遍不高，这不免使人们对他们如何能迅速成为IT业的弄潮儿心存疑虑。越南邮电部(Ministry of Post and Telecom)提供的数字显示，越南有62所大学和学院，每年可向社会输送8,500至9,000名理科学士，500名理科硕士以及50名电脑相关领域的博士。然而，越南主要报纸《人民报》(Nhan Dan)最近针对IT业顾主进行的一项调查显示，仅有10%至15%的大学毕业生被认为具备了上岗工作的能力。顾主们发现，许多大学毕业生英语能力欠缺，缺乏团队合作能力以及沟通技巧。此外，合格毕业生的供应赶不上社会需求的增长。
有一些令人鼓舞的迹象显示政府正在采取措施解决这一问题。教育和培训部(Ministry of Education and Training)今年四月下达通知，规定从2006-2007学年开始，IT教育将成为高中的主要必修课程。这份文件具体规定说，每所高中都必须设有一个电脑中心，其中至少配备25台连接到互联网的电脑。
越南还面临来自印度和中国这两个亚太区大国的严峻挑战。以中国为例，虽然该国的劳动力成本正在上升，但规模优势仍能使该国的IT产品生产商保持价格竞争力。为了能与这些大国展开有效竞争，越南的IT企业需要找到自己的生存之道。在高度专业化服务领域，质量比价格更为重要，这使小企业可以在这一领域与较大型企业展开有效竞争。此外，附加值更高的服务往往意味著更高的价格和更高的准入门坎；越南的IT企业或许应遵循这一发展策略。
越南规模虽小但却不断发展的IT外包业目前在全球市场上还远未成气候。但如果这一产业能继续吸引到投资并投资培育自己的人力资源和本土企业家，它就会有光明的未来。
（编者按：本文作者Phil Tranis是越南胡志明市一家游戏公司Glass Egg Digital Media的创办人和首席执行长。）
