There are 120 companies with total registered capital of VND2.4 trillion ($109.5 million) operating in the QTSC. — Photo qtsc.com.vn

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a pilot programme to expand the country's software parks by setting up Quang Trung Software City (QTSC) alliance.

Under the pilot programme, HCM City together with other localities or provinces will upgrade infrastructure for IT development.

The first QTSC was built in HCM City's District 12 more than 13 years ago.

Other software parks include QTSC 2, which is now waiting for land allocation, as well as an IT park at Viet Nam National University in HCM City's Thu Duc District, a VNPT complex in District 10, and an IT park at HCM City University of Technology.

The PM said that other Quang Trung Software City parks had been approved for Da Lat in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong and the northern province of Nam Dinh.

The Quang Trung Software City alliance will at first include two members, the QTSC in District 12 and the National University of HCM City IT Park in Thu Duc District.

The alliance can receive other members such as centralised IT zones, software and IT parks, among others.

All the parks in the alliance will be expected to follow the standards of the first QTSC.

The alliance will benefit from a Government Decree that regulates incentives for investment in centralised IT zones, which went into effect in January.

A centralised IT Zone focuses on research and development, training, production and sales of IT products and services, providing IT services to organisations, businesses, and other activities related to IT.

Under the decree, organisations and enterprises in a centralised IT zone will receive preferential tax, investment credit and customs procedures.

In addition, businesses will be exempt from import duties on goods used as fixed assets and for production activities.

According to PM Dung, creating such an alliance would be significant to the city's development in science and technology, especially IT.

There are 120 companies with total registered capital of VND2.4 trillion ($109.5 million) operating in the QTSC.

They are involved in software, IT services and human resource training, including four leading global companies: HP, IBM, KDDI, and HITACHI and 10 others nominated among the top 50 companies in the country.

The companies employ 18,260 people and last year had combined revenue of $220 million, a surge of more than 30 per cent year on year.

QTST has attracted substantial investment from leading firms in the industry and become a model that could be expanded elsewhere in the country.

It has spurred economic restructuring in the city by promoting the role of the knowledge-based economy with high-quality and added-value products and services. — VNS