(Biz Hub) — In September 2013, FPT Information System Corporation (FPT IS) won a US$2.5-million contract to provide a Business Support System (BSS) for Lao Telecommunication Company in a highly contested bidding process that included many prominent international telecom suppliers.

This new project in Laos adds to FPT IS's international customer base, which includes telcos in Cambodia, Malaysia and Myanmar.

These projects prove that Vietnamese system integrators can now compete in international markets.

Last month, FPT IS announced a partnership with the UK-based LogNet Systems with the aim of continuing to grow abroad. The two companies have agreed to partner on selling LogNet Systems' MaxBill billing solution.

Biz Hub talks to Duong Dung Trieu, FPT IS's CEO, about the opportunities for the company to expand internationally through its new partnership with LogNet Systems.

FPT IS's CEO Duong Dung Trieu.

With nearly 20 years of experience in the development of software, can you evaluate the regional role of Vietnamese companies in the field of Information Technology?

In Viet Nam we have a highly skilled workforce that is properly educated, with experience and dedication. As a country, we in Viet Nam offer distinct quality and cost advantages over other countries serving as centers for software and information technology development. It can be said that Vietnamese software companies have achieved progress during recent times, as we become one of the leading countries in this field.

Could you brief us about your company's plans to expand across Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific? Do you have plans to expand beyond Asia?

FPT IS will boost its presence across the region by establishing branches and representative offices in the strategic countries, including Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Bangladesh. We also plan to invest more in developing our brand in these markets. Looking forward, we also plan to participate in European, American and African markets.

What market opportunities are there for the new partnership between your company and LogNet Systems in the countries that you are targeting?

The markets for telecommunications and other services in the countries that we are targeting are becoming increasingly competitive. However, many existing service providers in developing and emerging countries are struggling to keep up as they use legacy and internally developed billing software that has rigid functionality. This limits their ability to offer new services and provide quality customer service. At the same time, new service providers are entering the market all the time to challenge the incumbent players.

LogNet Systems has a strong global strategy and its MaxBill solution has a proven record of being successfully used by competitive service providers in countries around the world since 1996. The decision to work with LogNet Systems and its MaxBill solution is strategic and will help FPT IS take advantage of market opportunities in the countries that we are targeting.

We see that the outstanding functionality of MaxBill, combined with our strong project management and support experience, creates a compelling value proposition for the services providers that we are targeting.

Young programmers work at the FPT IS's office in Ha Noi.

Could you brief us about the billing solution and what types of service providers you be will targeting?

The MaxBill solution gives service providers an efficient and profitable framework to manage their customer service and billing activities. More importantly, it will allow a service provider to monetize any service or package and create a workflow for any strategic initiative. LogNet Systems calls this Modern Billing, which enables service providers to grow their businesses and be in a position to adjust to changing market conditions and available technologies.

We have a good synergy with our new partner and, together, will be targeting service providers in a range of telecommunications, mobile and Internet services. We will also be looking at utility companies, such as electricity and water, as well as municipalities.

How large is the market for billing solutions across Asia?

We have been told by the analyst firm Stratecast that the market for billing solutions in the Asia Pacific region is estimated at just over $3 billion. Stratecast's analysts have also told us that they estimate that the overall market for billing solutions will grow by more than 20 per cent.

What is your mission in the time to come?

The turnover of FPT IS in recent years is around US$200 million each year, with $35 million from management software products, in which $14 million comes from foreign customers. Our objective is global expansion and we will keep going on this path in order to bring Vietnamese information technology products, solutions and services to the world.