Vietnam likely to become ASEAN’s Silicon Valley

Vietnamese workers at a Samsung's factory in Thai Nguyen province. (Source: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Itappears that Vietnam is best placed to become Southeast Asia’s Silicon Valley whilemost members of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) have ambitions of developingcompetitive technology sectors, “Asia Correspondent” said in a recent article.

According to the article, Vietnam’sadvantages came from its successful education policies, government support andan environment of entrepreneurial-ism.

Vietnam is also benefiting fromfunding and government policies designed to support the country to become aregional hub for technology and innovation.

An example of this is the ambitious“Silicon Valley Project”, a plan sponsored by the Ministry of Science andTechnology, which aims to transform the country into a major player in thedigital economy.

The article also quoted Google’s chief executive,Sundar Pichai, during his trip to Vietnam last year, as saying that Vietnamwould soon become one of Google’s most important markets. The Google chiefexecutive also pledged to train 1,400 IT engineers for Vietnam.

Vietnam’s appeal is bolstered by its tech-savvyworkforce, which is cheaper than China’s and more productive than that of othercountries in the AEC. Initially, the country had emerged as a production centerfor the Republic of Korean and Japanese electronics groups such as Samsung, LGElectronics, Panasonic and Toshiba, which have had factories in Vietnam fordecades.

However, the focus is now on transitioning frombeing a top producer of electronic components to becoming a center forresearch, innovation and development, it added.-VNA

VNA