Illustratrative image. — File Photo

HCM CITY (VNS)—  Domestic companies have failed to meet the demand for support components that the hi-tech industry needs, experts said at a conference yesterday.

The conference was titled "Investment Promotion for Hi-Tech Support Industries."

The hi-tech support industry presents great potential for Vietnamese firms, but it is currently dominated by foreign companies, said Le Duong Quang, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade.

Quang said domestic firms making products to serve the hi-tech industry were few and operating with a limited range.

Furthermore, they were still to achieve quality standards needed to become more competitive, he said.

Le Bich Loan, Vice President of the Sai Gon Hi-Tech Park's managemet board, expressed similar views, adding that Vietnamese companies have only indirectly joined the process of making a hi-tech product.

She said most Vietnamese companies did not have the capacity to meet the demand of hi-tech firms despite the Government having many preferential policies to support them.

"In 2011-12, domestic companies met only 16-17 per cent of the total demand in our park. This is estimated to increase to 22 per cent in the first quarter of this year, 25 per cent in 2015 and 40 per cent in 2020," Loan told Viet Nam News.

Experts at the conference said there were many factors behind the weak domestic hi-tech support industry.

Hi-tech support industries in Viet Nam have not developed because the domestic hi-tech industry itself is not well developed, Quang said.

Domestic firms faced many difficulties including research, design and capital limitations, he added.

An Intel Viet Nam representative said Vietnamese companies did not have a system to manage the quality of their products, which has caused problems for hi-tech companies.

Another factor preventing foreign hi-tech companies from buying supporting components made by local firms was poor communication, which is caused in part by language barriers, she said.

Weak co-operation among the firms and high interest rates were also factors that affected the competitiveness of domestic firms, other experts said.

The high interest rates pushed the prices of domestic hi-tech support products so foreign companies preferred to buy these from producers in other countries, they said.

The conference presented many co-operation opportunities for domestic and foreign hi-tech companies.

Government officials at the conference also said that more events calling for investment and co-operation in the hi-tech support industry would be organised in the future.

They said efforts would be made to have domestic and foreign companies join hands in developing the high-tech support industry in Viet Nam. — VNS