HCM CITY — Concentrated information technology (IT) parks across Việt Nam obtained certain initial success during operation but still fell short of expectations, heard a workshop in HCM City on Thursday. 
There are four concentrated IT parks in Việt Nam, at present - Quang Trung Software City in HCM City, Đà Nẵng Software Park in central Đà Nẵng City, and Cầu Giấy Concentrated IT Park and Hà Nội Software Technology Park, which is under construction, in the capital city. 
Data released at the workshop shows that these parks attracted investment from large domestic and foreign IT firms. They raked in more than US$200 million in revenue for the software industry, compared with the industry’s total earnings of $1.6 billion in 2015. 
Nguyễn Thành Hưng, deputy minister of information and communications, said the parks’ effect on the software industry was, however, not yet as significant as expected. They failed to create a favourable environment for business activities or attract major companies’ investment in setting up research and development centres. 
The failure is attributable to various causes, including modest investment from the State and society and poor implementation of support policies targeting these parks. Meanwhile, investment promotion activities remain neglected, he said. 
Lê Quốc Cường, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Information and Communications, said manpower is a fundamental factor in the software industry, but the lack of skilled workers has eroded opportunities to win global IT firms’ attention for Quang Trung Software City. 
Less developed infrastructure and a workplace unable to satisfy high-quality workers’ demand are also weaknesses of this park, he added. 
Hưng said his ministry and the Ministry of Planning and Investment are preparing to implement a target programme on IT for the 2016-2020 period. This programme is set to support seven concentrated IT parks nationwide. Some VNĐ40-60 billion ($1.8-2.7 million) in initial support will be provided for each park to help them attract investment. — VNS