Vietnam has jumped five places to 56 th out of 66 countries and territories in the 2009 IT competitiveness index, according to the latest study conducted by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

At a press conference to announce the results of the study in Hanoi on October 6, Atty Claro Parlade, Director of Software Policy for BSA Asia-Pacific, praised the Vietnamese government’s support for the IT industry’s development and said that Vietnam is one of the few countries in the region to rise in the rankings.

This may help accelerate the recovery of the Vietnamese economy and create the momentum for the country’s long-term development, he said.

This was the third year that the study has been conducted, to assess and compare the IT environment in a number of countries and define priority areas to improve the competitiveness of the IT sector in each nation.

This year’s study covered six major areas, including business environment, IT infrastructure, human resources, legal environment, research and development environment and support for the development of the IT industry.

In addition, the use of mobile phones and the latest data relating to information technology were also included in the study.

In recent years, Vietnam’s IT industry has developed rapidly, with total revenues exceeding 10 billion USD in 2008 and the number of internet users has risen to 25 percent of the country’s population.

At present, Vietnam is putting together a strategy that will make it a powerful country in the global information technology industry and is striving to ensure that IT revenues constitute 20-23 percent of the country’s GDP by 2020./.