Japan currently outsources only 0.5 percent of its software production to Vietnam, after India (15 percent) and China (85 percent) although Vietnam is its most favoured partner in the field, said the Japan Information Technology Service Industry Association (JISA).

According to the JISA, Vietnam’s biggest software developer, FPT, currently employs up to 140 workers in its Japanese branch, which was set up almost three years ago. Up to 56 percent of FPT’s revenue comes from Japan.

Meanwhile, Japanese companies such as Hitachi, NEC and Fujisu have established subsidiary companies in Vietnam and have increased their workforce in an effort to fulfill the parent companies’ orders.

Participants at the seminar agreed that there are more opportunities for cooperation between the two countries’ software companies despite the impact of the global economic recession.

Vietnam can help Japan address its shortage of IT human resources by reducing both production time and cost, said the participants.

However, they pointed out that Vietnam is lacking in senior programmers, especially those who can speak Japanese. The advent of policies for the development of the IT industry and a satisfactory infrastructure in the field could also increase the country’s outsourcing stake in the Japanese market by ten fold.

The Vietnam Software Association (Vinasa) forecasts that this year’s revenues from the software industry will reach US$680 million.