The Japan Information and Communications Technology Day (Japan ICT Day) was held in Hanoi on Nov. 24 to promote IT cooperation between Vietnamese and Japanese businesses.

The event has attracted close to 200 delegates from both countries, including 20 Japanese entrepreneurs.

On the sidelines of the event, the delegates attended seminars on Japan-Vietnam IT cooperation towards Vietnamese market and human resources development for long-term Vietnam-Japan IT cooperation. They also had fact-finding tours and met with partners.

The participants at the seminars heard reports on Japan’s demand for software outsourcing, an overview of Vietnam’s IT development, as well as prospects for IT cooperation between Vietnam and Japan.

According to Nguyen Doan Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam-Japan IT Cooperation Club (VJC), over the past ten years, Vietnam’s software outsourcing market share in Japan has increased from 0.4 percent in 2004 to nearly 4 percent in 2009.

However, the figure is yet to match potential for cooperation between the two countries, he noted.

By the end of 2010, Vietnam had had an IT contingent of more than 250,000. Developing high-quality human resources is one of prerequisites for fostering long-term cooperation between Vietnamese and Japanese businesses, he said.

Firstly held in 2007, Japan ICT Day is one of the annual activities to connect and create conditions for Vietnamese and Japanese businesses to share information, knowledge and experience.

The event is jointly held by the Vietnam Software Association and the VJC under the sponsorship of the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications and the coordination of the Japan Information Service Industry Association (JISA), the Asian-Oceania Computing Industry Organisation (AOSOCIO) and the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO)./.