FPT had revenue of $1 billion in 2008. Fifteen years later, it was the first Vietnamese technology firm to earn $1 billion from software exports.

“To gain achievements, we started from failure,” said Hoang Nam Tien, vice president of FPT University, and president of FPT Software for eight years.

In 1999, FPT opened its office in the US. After one year, all money was spent, but it could not find clients.

FPT’s leaders then decided to learn from the most successful software exporters. At that moment, India was at its peak in software exports.

FPT took a daring move when going to Bangalore, the world’s software center, to set up a business. But FPT still could not get a job though it employed a team of 30 Indian workers and appointed them to important positions, including project manager, designer, coder, and tester.

“We lost millions of dollars in the first years of going abroad. The failures might discourage other businesses, but not FPT, because FPT president Truong Gia Binh is a special person,” Tien said.

“In 1999, when speaking on TV, Binh showed the strong will and belief in the Vietnamese enterprise’s capability of exporting software when saying that exporting software is a must, even if we have to burn down the Truong Son mountain range."

Moving forward

On the first days, FPT faced great challenges. The company’s leaders were advised to trade in real estate and invest in securities to make money. However, FPT’s leaders were persistent in exporting software.

Though the company lacked everything, from money to relationships to skills, FPT’s people were still determined to fight for a victory. They understood that if they were not brave enough, they would never be able to enter the world market. 

Unable to compete with the world's leading enterprises in terms of production force, FPT had to use brainpower and technology to be able to "go abreast with the world's great powers".

Business culture was another know-how which has helped FPT succeed in the Go Global path.

“One day, I told my staff that I needed a person who could lead 15 workers to Houston, Texas to take care of customers. An officer said immediately 'Let me do this’,” Tien recalled.

“After the statement, the officer worked hard 15-20 hours a day, and he told me 'I am ready to take the task',” Tien said.

Most of the projects undertaken by FPT are sourced from foreign partners. FPT accepts difficult projects with the iron belief that it can do them.

Not only outsourcing for foreign partners, FPT has moved one step forward to create products and services which can be sold to the world’s tech giants.

“FPT staff consists of 76,000 people of 63 nationalities now working in various countries, including 4,000 foreigners. Of the $1 billion of revenue from software exports in 2023, about 30 percent came from Made by FPT software and products. 

“Previously, FPT went abroad to seek jobs, while now it goes abroad to introduce products and solutions to foreign partners,” Tien said.

Of the 500 largest economic groups worldwide, 102 are now clients of the Vietnamese software business.

FPT is on the list of the 500 largest global software firms and on the list of the top 100 service providers.

Asked about FPT’s secret to success, Tien believes that it is persistence.

“Over the last 25 years of exporting software, persistence and discipline have helped us keep steadfast on the path to our goal and make a strong rise from failures, while other firms have given up,” Tien said.

In 2023, when FPT celebrated its 35th anniversary of establishment, president Truong Gia Binh said the goal of the tech firm was "creating happiness for each FPT person, for customers, for the country, and for the whole world".

In 2023-2025, FPT plans to develop more branches in Latin America, North America, the Middle East and East Europe, and expand the capability of serving global clients 24/7.

Binh Minh