Thua Thien Hue Center For Infomation Technology
Search
en-USvi-VN
  • Home
  • Products
    • Product Information
  • Services
    • News Details
    • Service Information
  • Training
    • News Details
    • Course Information
  • News
    • News Details
  • About
  • Blogs
    • Photo Reportage
    • News Blog

Training

News Training

Could Vietnam become the next Silicon Valley?
Update2/24/2016 9:08:40 AM

Binh Tran is the co-founder of a successful tech company, Klout, which he sold for $200m (£140m) in 2014. Eddie Thai, the younger of the two, was educated at Harvard and Yale.

But the pair have now decided to focus their attentions, not in the ultra-competitive corner of California that's home to Google, Apple and Facebook, but in Ho Chi Minh City, southern Vietnam.

As partners in US-based venture capital firm, 500 Startups, they think there are more investment opportunities to be found in this rapidly developing country.

"Vietnam in the past 20 years has been one of the fastest growing markets in the world," says Mr Thai.

 

"Ten years ago, there were only about four million internet users. Now there are more than 40 million. Ten years ago there were virtually no smartphones in use here. Now there are 30 million smartphone users.

"The trajectory is phenomenal."

Mr Tran adds: "If you look at scores for Vietnam in reading, math and science, they actually score higher than countries like the US and the UK. That's the foundation for computer science that's given Vietnam an edge."

Saigon Silicon City

There are some who believe this communist country could even become the next Silicon Valley.

"If you were here six or seven months ago, this was like a rice farm," says Hieu Minh Nguyen, as he motions to the dusty plain beneath our feet, about 15 minutes drive from the centre of Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon.

"But if you're here in six months, you will see Saigon Silicon City right here. We will build high-rise buildings, and along the river we will have a landscape with a park, and also a golf course and tennis, all kinds of entertainment."

Aiming to create the world's next Silicon Valley is ambitious. But Mr Hieu, a Vietnamese-American investor and chairman of the project, is a believer.

Late last year, a ceremony was held to turn the first sod on what he hopes will become a technology hub that will attract two dozen companies and $1.5bn worth of investment.

Samsung and Intel already have offices in Ho Chi Minh City at the nearby hi-tech park, attracted by a young, well-educated labour force and generous tax incentives.

Add to that a vibrant start-up scene and Mr Hieu's dream might be more achievable than it first appears.

Success story'

When it comes to choosing which start-ups to invest in, Eddie Thai and Binh Tran say they're looking for companies that solve problems.

"I don't like anything that's super trendy," says Mr Tran, in an apparent move away from Klout, which ranks users' social media influence.

"I just like basic building blocks, technologies that are going to help businesses run better."

"We're funding the next VNGs," says Mr Thai, referring to Vietnam's biggest tech success story - the gaming, chat and e-commerce platform VNG, valued at $1bn in 2014.

But for both entrepreneurs, the decision to work in Vietnam was about more than a promising start-up scene and good demographics.

"I don't have any family here," says Mr Tran, when we meet in a rented conference room on the 42nd floor of Bitexco Financial Tower, Ho Chi Minh City's gleaming skyscraper, famous for its protruding - though reportedly unused - helipad.

"My grandparents, aunts, uncles, they're all in the US.

"So being able to come back here, to understand the people and get in touch with my roots, [while] at the same time, be a part of the foundation for Vietnam's future, that's an opportunity I just had to do."

For Eddie Thai, entrepreneurship is a family trait. He proudly recounts the story of his grandfather, a Vietnamese farm worker who saved up money to buy oxen, then rented the animals to other farmers. "A kind of Uber for oxen," he says with a laugh.

His parents migrated to the US with nothing, but were able to start a restaurant and build up a small real estate portfolio, which he says allowed him to have "a normal American life". He visited Vietnam as a teen.

"I saw how far Vietnam had come, but how far there was still to go. I knew at some point I would be back here to empower others."

That's a feeling shared by Quynh-Huong Duong, the French entrepreneur behindGetSpaces, a booking platform for meeting rooms and event spaces in Ho Chi Minh City. She moved to the city from Paris two years ago.

"I wanted to do something for Vietnam," she says. "The people here are really entrepreneurial. There's a different kind of mindset than in France. French people are very conservative. Here it's really like in the US, like: 'Yes, we can'."

 

Local heroes

But Vietnam's tech scene isn't made up of eager ex-pats alone.

In 2004, Vietnamese entrepreneur Dinh Anh Huan co-founded the mobile phone retail chain Thegioididong.com, which means The Mobile World in English. Last year, the company made its stock market debut, raising more more than $250m.

"I got around $30m," says Mr Huan. "I invested in around 20 companies in Vietnam. Right now, my vision is not about the money. My vision is to create products in Vietnam and export them to other countries."

Those products range from the agricultural - he has tea, coffee, strawberry and flower farms - to retail. Mr Huan has invested in a chain of mother-and-baby stores, a women's shoe factory, an online fashion site and Vietnam's second largest e-commerce site, Tiki.vn.

But the 35-year-old's main focus is Vietnam's millions of small business holders. His company Seedcom.vn offers website building, point of sale software, digital marketing, call centre services and logistics.

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai visited Vietnam in December and, after meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, announced that the search engine giant would help train about 1,400 local IT engineers.

He said Vietnam would soon become one of Google's most important markets.

"It will easily be in the top 10 countries for many companies and people who are building products. I think you're in the process of that transition," he said.

"The transition is under way; just give it a bit more patience."

Source: http://www.bbc.com/

[  Print]
Other articles
  • The first “Graphics Design” class in the collaboration with VITPR company  (7.4.2016)
  • Why Programming Is The Core Skill Of The 21st Century?  (24.2.2016)
  • Cooling the "thirst" for programmers!  (24.2.2016)
  • “VIETNAM COUNTRY MEET-STRATEGY 2016”  (20.1.2016)
  • Merry Christmas 2015!  (11.12.2015)
    First Previous 1 2 Next Last  
  • Employment opportunity: Web Designer
    Employment opportunity: Web Designer
    The website workwithanyone.com has posted a job advert. The company is looking for a web designer with experience in Bootstrap, Photoshop and Usability.

  • The first “Graphics Design” class in the collaboration with VITPR company
    The first “Graphics Design” class in the collaboration with VITPR company
    In the evening of 5th April 2016, Thua Thien Hue Center for Information and Technology organised the opening ceremony for first “Graphics Design” class. 

  • Why Programming Is The Core Skill Of The 21st Century?
    Why Programming Is The Core Skill Of The 21st Century?

    In the 20th Century, meaningful education was all about learning your ABCs. Today, it's centered on Alphas, Betas and C++.

    Programming skills are becoming ever more important, quickly turning into the core competency for all kinds of 21st Century workers. That inescapable fact is leading individuals to seek out new ways of learning to code, startups and non-profits to find ways to help them and businesses to search for innovative approaches ...


Learner corner

Try once to get experience like I have if you choose IT for your career. You'll get more than what you spend!

Huyen Tran - Programmer in Brycen Japanese company - representative office in Hue

"The program at Aptech is quite quick - 100% in English but luckily the teachers here are highly professional and always willing to answer questions, explain more what I do not understand. There is no depth on the theory but it aims to help students understand what they have learned can be used to do what. When you go to work, how can you apply that knowledge into practice, how is the work processes.. .step by step, we can build the programs, soft wares, from simple to more complicated ones. "


There are a lot of Careers in IT, so being able to get one or not depends on us only!

Pham Van Hao - Project manager at Success Software Services Company, HCM City

"Talking about career opportunities in the field of IT, I think there are many opportunities for you, my friends. Even I could tell that the IT industry is the sector which brings the highest salaries and is the easiest to earn money. Employment in the IT sector is very hot. A lot of companies are hiring and continue recruiting people. A lot of foreign projects are carried out in Vietnam … But being able to grasp this opportunity or not depends on us only"

Hue-Aptech is where my professional dream started!

Nguyen Tung - Project Manager at Queenb JSC in Ho Chi Minh City.

"Hue-Aptech is where I have ever attended with passion to become a Programmer. If you have a passion for this profession, I think Hue-Aptech is an ideal place for you to implement your dream. With the environment and infrastructure, with the experienced teachers, I think I was lucky to have attended in a place like this. "

Thanks to the learning environment in Hue-Aptech where the development of each student’s creativity was always encouraged, I have been successful today!

Kieu Bao Tien - Director of software company Icodedark - Hue

“I chose the IT industry because demands for manpower in this sector is very large. But to have deep expertise in the IT industry which is always changing, it is necessary to learn from the practical knowledge of the businesses. With this criteria, the Aptech curriculum is perfect for studying and attending in Hue-Aptech is the best choice I've ever made. We are always updated with the latest learning materials. Learning about theory has always included with practice in the Center. This helps us quickly catch up with work after finishing the course...”

I have been successful –So can you!

Nam Tran - Hue-Aptech student, who is currently CTO (Chief technology officer) for a US technology company and is studying in Germany, specialized in artificial intelligence and robotics, shares some of his experience:

“I think the training program of Hue-Aptech is suitable for many different careers in IT such as software engineers, project or database or analysis managers, and designer. Trainers and experts in the Center is the most passionate and enthusiastic ones I've ever known.”

Register now

Enter information for advice

CAPTCHA image
Enter the code shown above in the box below

  • Dấu ấn trẻ từ lực lượng tiên phong: Tư vấn – Thiết kế và Sản xuất  

  • Nghề chọn tôi, tôi chọn IT  

  • Đào tạo và Bồi dưỡng, bước chuyển mình sang mô hình N trong 1  

  • More
© 2022 HueCIT
  • Add: 6 Le Loi, Hue
  • Tel: +84.54. 3 823 650
  • Fax: +84.54. 3 823 649
  • E-mail: info@huecit.vn
  • Website: www.huecit.vn

Services

+84.54. 3 823 575

HueSOFTWAREPARK

Follow us

Training

+84.54. 3 823 077

HueARENA

Chat with us

HueAPTECH

Chat with us

Follow us

Contact