OKINAWA, Japan — FPT Group has official launched a research and development centre in the Okinawa Prefecture to boost FPT’s growth in the Japanese market.

FPT Okinawa R&D (FORD), the group’s fifth facility in Japan, will operate as a near-shore centre of FPT in the country to improve its accessibility to advanced technology to transform innovative and creative ideas into products and services. 

Chairman of FPT Group Trương Gia Bình was quoted as telling the Japanese media that it is also a centre for research and development (R&D) of advanced technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Big Data. 

FORD is also expected to play an important role in FPT’s globalisation strategy, Bình said. Currently, FORD has won its first two contracts -- with a large SI company in Japan and a company operating in the field of technology in Kyoto.

He emphasised there were three reasons for choosing Okinawa Prefecture to set up a research and development centre of FPT.

First, regulations on security under Japanese law do not allow machines being used for system development to be brought abroad. Second, Okinawa Prefecture government has several policies to support information technology enterprises. Finally, Okinawa is the closest place in Japan to Việt Nam with many similarities in food, climate and culture.

Okinawa Prefecture Governor Takeshi Onaga expressed his delight at Okinawa being selected by FPT as a bridge to promote friendly relations between Việt Nam and Japan, saying the prefecture always welcomes and facilitates foreign businesses to invest in the province.

FORD will have some 30 employees in its first year of establishment and is expected to employ 500 employees by 2020.

In addition to the establishment of FORD, FPT is considering opening a university in Okinawa to train high-quality human resources in the information technology sector. This policy is being encouraged by the Okinawa government, which committed to provide infrastructure and financial support.

FPT University in Okinawa is expected to have a four-year training programme, of which students will spend the first three years at the school and the last year training at business establishments.

With the establishment of the R&D facility in Okinawa, FPT Japan currently has five establishments in Japan -- Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Okinawa -- directly creating jobs for 800 people.

It is expected that by the end of 2017, FPT Japan will reach US$170 million in revenue, and by 2020, it will contribute 50 per cent of FPT’s revenue target of $1 billion from foreign markets. 

In the first eight month of the year, foreign markets of FPT recorded revenue of VNĐ4.2 trillion ($187.4 million), up 16 per cent year-on-year and before-tax profit of VNĐ628 billion, up 24 per cent over the same period last year, accounting for nearly one-third of the group’s profit.

From January to August, FPT Group’s consolidated revenue and before-tax profit rose by 11 per cent and 16 per cent year-on-year, respectively, to reach VNĐ27.34 trillion and VNĐ1.99 trillion. Profit-after-tax reached nearly VNĐ1.7 trillion, an increase of 15 per cent over the same period last year. — VNS