The Japan Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Day 2016 took place in Da Nang on Thursday. 

Vice Chairman Dung addressing the event (Photo: http://ictnews.vn)

The annual event was jointly organised by the municipal Department of Information and Communications, the Viet Nam Software and IT Services Association (VINASA), and the Viet Nam-Japan IT Cooperation Club (VJC).  This year’s event was attended by representatives from many Vietnamese businesses and those from 30 Japanese businesses and related associations, including the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) and the Japan Information Technology Service Industry Association.

The event aimed to promote bilateral cooperation between local IT businesses and those from Japan, as well as to advertise the city’s preferential policies for attracting more Japanese investors into the local IT sector.

Over recent years, Da Nang has demonstrated its firm stance on developing IT into one of its spearhead economic sectors.  Numerous strategies and policies have been issued, and many local resources have been used to bolster the development of the local IT industry. 

The city is now home to about 700 ICT businesses, many of which are Japanese-invested companies and domestic IT service suppliers for the Japanese market.  In particular, Da Nang has seen the effective and extensive use of IT applications, with a focus on developing the city’s e-government and ‘smart-city’ systems.

Addressing the event, municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Dang Viet Dung said he hoped that local and Japanese businesses would together seek bilateral cooperation opportunities in the IT sector.  He also pledged that even more favourable conditions would be created for Japanese investors to ensure the efficiency of their investment activities in the city.

The Vice Chairman of the VINASA, Mr Nguyen Doan Hung, remarked, “Many Japanese businesses are now operating in Da Nang.  However, the city is currently facing a severe shortage of IT human resources, especially engineers who are proficient in the Japanese language”.  He proposed that more training courses in Japanese should be offered for students from the IT faculties of the city’s educational establishments.

Japan ICT Day was first organised in 2007, and it is the best platform for Vietnamese and Japanese companies to seek business cooperation opportunities.