Sofware industrial park to be operate
Jan. 1 (VNA) -- Ho Chi Minh City's Quang Trung Software Industrial Park will be officially put into operation in the first quarter of this year, says its Deputy Director Chu Tien Dzung.
The 39.2-ha park, the largest of its kind in southern Viet Nam, will include software production and services, high-level research, personnel training and human resource supply, entertainment and services. In particular, there will be an international standard telecommunication transmission line at the park.
Up to now, nine foreign companies and organizations and 32 domestic companies have registered to operate in the park. Of these, 34 units will be involved in software production and services and the remainder, in software personnel training.
The park targets the employment of 6,000 workers and a revenue of USD 300 million by 2005. Employment is expected to increase to between 15,000 and 20,000 workers by 2010.
To these ends, Ho Chi Minh City has worked out nine incentives on telecommunication policies, individual income tax, house and land rent, electricity and water supply, and investment in order to attract more businesses. Internet service prices in the park will be equal to that in regional countries and a square-metre land rent will be USD 0.4 per year. Overseas Vietnamese will enjoy the same price as all other Vietnamese.
In addition, Ho Chi Minh City will provide VND 20 million to each enterprise participating in the building of a modern quality management system and each young business.
Further, the Government has decided to build a centre for personnel training in software industry in this park with USD 2.5 million coming from Indian Government loans.
Ho Chi Minh City has 4,500 IT workers including 1,200 people in the software industry. Its universities and colleges have 17 IT faculties which train about 2,000 IT engineers and 70 IT post graduates yearly besides 200 IT graduates return to the city from foreign universities every year. Its software industry is expected to employ more than 10,000 people in the next five years.
Viet Nam is capable of developing software industry as the Vietnamese people have shown adaptability to the technology. More than 10,000 Vietnamese and 20 companies run by Vietnamese have been successful in the Silicon valley of the United States.--VNA
