Many technology firms and large multinational corporations around the world, including Intel, Samsung, LG, Renesas, Foxconn, Fujitsu, Canon, Panasonic, had set up manufacturing bases in Viet Nam. — Photo vntech

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — The first Viet Nam IT Outsourcing Conference to be held in HCM City in October will seek to promote Viet Nam as an emerging IT outsourcing destination and offer a business matching platform for buyers and Vietnamese vendors.

Speaking at a press conference in HCM City yesterday, Lam Nguyen Hai Long, deputy director of Quang Trung Software City (QTSC), said Viet Nam had competitive advantages in IT outsourcing on the global market.

"Viet Nam possesses a skilled labour force with more than 40,000 engineers graduating each year from 290 universities across the country," he said, adding that the government offered incentives to encourage investment in high-tech and software parks.

Despite rising costs in Viet Nam, its offshore outsourcing services remained cheaper than that of India or Eastern Europe, he said.

Many technology firms and large multinational corporations around the world, including Intel, Samsung, LG, Renesas, Foxconn, Fujitsu, Canon, Panasonic, had set up manufacturing bases in Viet Nam, he said.

Nguyen Cong Ai, deputy general director of KPMG Viet Nam, said with its consistent economic development, strong growth of the IT sector, abundant, low-cost and easily trainable work force, cultural compatibility, and availability of supporting infrastructure for offshore outsourcing, Viet Nam was a promising IT outsourcing hub.

According to the 2015 report by Tholons, a leading strategic advisory firm for global outsourcing and research, HCM City and Ha Noi ranked 18th and 20th among the top 100 most attractive global cities for software outsourcing, he said.

However, despite its steady growth and the presence of many of the leading global companies, Viet Nam's software outsourcing industry remained unknown to many outsiders, the event heard.

To be organised by QTSC and the HCM City Computer Association (HCA) in collaboration with outsourcing firms — from October 14 to 16 at The Reverie Saigon (Times Square) — the conference was expected to attract more than 150 multinational companies, Viet Nam's top 200 software outsourcing companies and 20 IT universities, Long said.

The event would provide information about Viet Nam's software industry, business and investment environment, human resources, education and training, labour market, infrastructure, and working with Vietnamese companies, he said.

It also included business matching and visits to top outsourcing companies, he said.

It would be a great opportunity for foreign companies to understand about Viet Nam's software industry, he added. — VNS