Vietnam’s burgeoning software industry was rated the 20th best in the world by the Kearney consulting group, HCM City Computer Association Chairman Le Truong Tung announced at a press conference last week.

India leads the pack with 7.12 points, followed by China (5.61) and Malaysia (5.59). With 4.7 points, Vietnam ranks 20th out of 25. According to Dr Tung, the list was based on three criteria: finances, business environment and qualifications of personnel, which are considered the foundations foreign companies use to select software-making partners. At the press conference, Dr Tung also announced the release of a report named “Vietnam IT panorama 2004”. According to the report, Vietnam’s IT market grew by 28.8% last year to reach a turnover of $515mil, including $410mil from hardware and $105mil from software and services, double 2000 levels. This is the first time the country earned over $500mil from IT. “We are seeing a breakthrough in the development of Vietnam’s Internet presence. Five Vietnamese websites have entered the list of 10,000 top websites worldwide. The country has nearly reached the Asian average rate of Internet use,” said Dr Tung.

 (Source: Tuoi Tre)