HA NOI (Biz Hub) – Investors in Cau Giay Centralised Information Technology Zone, the first centralised IT zone in Ha Noi and the third in Việt Nam, will get the same preferential policies as investors in other high-tech zones.

Phan Lan Tu, head of Ha Noi Department of Information and Communications, receives a recognition for Cau Giay Centralised Information Technology Zone. Photo vnexpress.net

Information and Communications Deputy Minister Le Nam Thang said that the zone, licensed on Tuesday, would "help develop the country's emerging IT industry, one of Việt Nam's crucial economic sectors".

Thắng said many countries, such as the US, India and China, had used centralised IT zones as a springboard to develop their IT industries.

Previously known as the Cau Giay Small Industries Zone, the 8.35-ha area is now divided into three smaller sections.

On behalf of the zone's investor, FPT general director Truong Gia Binh said IT businesses that operated in the zone before it got its central IZ zone status had contributed about VND4 trillion (nearly US$190.5 million) to the state budget annually.

Besides Cau Giay, there are two other centralised IT zones in Viet Nam: Quang Trung Software Park in HCM City and Da Nang Software Park in the central coastal city of Da Nang.

By the end of 2012, total investment for infrastructure in the three zones reached VND3 trillion ($142.8 million), according to the Ministry of Information and Communications.

As many as 700 investors are active in the zones, which have a total workforce of 36,000, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications. – VNS