Vietnamese firms accounted for 27 per cent of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry's earnings in 2022, a 2.35 per cent increase from the previous year, according to a report by the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications (MIT).

The industry reported earnings of US$148 billion, an 8.7 per cent increase from the previous year while making a contribution of $34 billion to the country's GDP this year. The Southeast Asian country continued as one of the region's top exporters of ICT products with $136 billion in exports of ICT hardware, a 11.6 per cent increase from the previous year, and a $26 billion surplus. 

Notably, the report said more than 60 per cent of the firms have made the switch from software outsourcing to producing their own solutions and creating added value. During the year, more than 70,000 new firms have entered the industry, a 9.6 per cent increase year-to-year. 

FPT, one of the country's largest, reported over $1 billion in revenue from foreign markets, marking the first time a Vietnamese IT firm hit this mark since the industry's formation 25 years ago. In total, Vietnamese firms reported earnings of more than $2.2 billion from international markets this year.

According to the ministry, Việt Nam's IT industry has been growing steadily in the last two decades with major international companies making large R&D investments in the country including Intel, Samsung, LG and Microsoft. 

However, limitations and shortcomings remained including sub-par IT infrastructure and a lack of incentives for companies to implement cutting-edge technologies in the field, said the ministry. 

MIT's deputy minister Phạm Đức Long said the ministry had run a number of pilot programmes this year to encourage Vietnamese firms to become more involved in the country's digitalisation effort. 

Long said the domestic market was an ideal playground for Vietnamese firms to hone their skills before reaching out to overseas markets and the ministry stayed committed to providing all the support it can to help them realise such goals. 

For example, a number of legal frameworks and development projects were to be established in the coming years including the country's Law on Information Technology Industry, a development plan for Việt Nam's semi-conductor industry and the commercialisation of Make in Vietnam 5G equipment. According to MIT, the country has set a target to increase the industry's earnings by as much as 33 per cent, with software engineering alone reaching $2.8 billion. 

The ministry also plans to organise a large number of promotional events in the coming years to help connect Vietnamese firms with large global tech players and foreign investors.  

A key objective for the industry in a near future is to master and develop indigenous technologies, especially in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and 5G as well as the proliferation of domestically-made ICT products and services that are well-recognised internationally. VNS