The Hanoi hub of Malaysian global shared services and outsourcing (SSO) service provider, Walter Rhodes Sdn Bhd, is expected to rake in a turnover of US$3 million (US$1=RM3.40) within five years, according to the Malaysian news agency Bernama.
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| The launch of Walter Rhodes Hanoi hub last month. |
Its managing director, Dr Darren Ng, said the hub, which was launched last month, would provide an attractive platform for companies to penetrate the lucrative industries in Vietnam.
"Vietnam, specifically Hanoi, is pushing the development of the information and communication technology (ICT) especially in key sectors such as finance and banking, telecommunications, animation and software development," Ng told Bernama.
Ng said the Vietnamese government has allocated huge funds for infrastructure, supporting technology-related businesses and developing human resources.
"The firms will get tax incentives and regulations will be more flexible as well," he said.
He said Walter Rhodes was able to help the companies with the assistance of HANEL Communications, its partner in the SSO initiative in Hanoi.
Ng said Vietnamese Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, on May 5, 2008, endorsed a plan to develop Hanoi into a fully-developed city by 2050.
The plan, he said, aimed to make the city the centre for political, cultural, scientific, educational, and tourism activities.
He said the tie-up with HANEL, one of the largest ICT corporations in Hanoi, has enabled the SSO hub in Hanoi to complement the industry in Hanoi by introducing more technology and invariably opening doors to a booming market.
"The SSO hub helps businessess in information technology consulting, business management, fund raising, local and foreign market expansion, business-matching, corporate restructuring, and branding.
"It also helps them penetrate new markets by giving them direct market exposure and constant promotion.
"We've been doing this by organising business exploratory trips, business-matching, project facilitations, providing hands-on assistance in helping our SSO companies negotiate and secure projects overseas," he said.
Ng said the local team in the SSO hub also provided assistance, market feasibility study and market strategy to help firms get their products/services out, right up to the point-of-sales stage.
"The SSO hub also has a partner in Department of Information and Communication. We are in the midst of establishing a working relationship with Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry," he said.
He said the hub has partnered with the Youth section of the Selangor Malay Chamber of Commerce to help it expand in Vietnam.
Ng said another Malaysian company, MyGo Solutions Sdn Bhd, has also received its help to penetrate the Vietnamese market.
"MyGo Solutions will also be developing mobile games through Walter Rhodes SSO hub in Suzhou, China.
"The opportunity to distribute to the Vietnamese market is made possible via the company's partnership with Vietnamobile -- which was developed through a business-matching session arranged by Walter Rhodes in conjunction with its SSO Centre launch in Hanoi recently," he said.
Green technology is also another area of focus, Ng said.
He said Malaysian green technology providers were aware of the development of this area in Vietnam and sought to enter the industry through the SSO network.
"There is a large opportunity for this type of initiative as the Vietnamese government is seeking foreign partners to embark on research cooperation and green technology development," he said.
Ng said despite impact from the recent global economic crisis, Vietnam's economy continued to grow due to foreign direct investments and infrastructure development, which would drive the growth of the ICT market.
"The ICT industry's annual growth rate is set to double or triple that of Vietnam's economic growth, and the industry will contribute up to 20 per cent and up to 30 per cent to the country's gross domestic product by 2015 and by 2020, respectively," he said.
Malaysia, he said, headed a list of 40 countries and territories who had invested in Vietnam over the last nine months.
Other top investors included Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Japan, he said.
"Malaysian businesses are currently registered to invest in 37 projects worth a total of US$14.8 billion in Vietnam. The projects make up 4.1 per cent of the total number of projects and 26.4 percent of registered capital (according to the Vietnamese Foreign Investment Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment)," he said.
Ng said foreign investors would face many challenges penetrating the Vietnamese market.
"Many companies face language and cultural barriers, difficulty in getting proper leads to start with, inadequate start-up capital, challenges in entering the market especially when relationship with the government is important, and lack of human resource to help follow a project through in a foreign country.
"Walter Rhodes helps mitigate all these risks by partnering with HANEL to assist in product localisation, facilitating and securing foreign projects for client, and marketing," he said.
He said HANEL, through its large network, would provide market access, especially in places where political/government connection was a mandatory variable for success.
Walter Rhodes Global SSO Centre, established over a year ago, is a joint initiative between subsidiary Walter Rhodes BPO Solutions Sdn Bhd and KPerak Implementation and Coordination Corp, the Perak state government-appointed ICT facilitator.
Walter Rhodes has set up two global SSO centres in Suzhou and in Perak Techno Trade Centre.
