The software industry could reap a bonanza in 2013 as Japan looks foroutsourcers beyond China , according to the Vietnam SoftwareAssociation (Vinasa).

Pham Tan Cong, Vinasa general secretary,said that the door of opportunity to tap the Japanese market is wideopen for Vietnamese software producers.

Everything depends on how much advantage Vietnamese exporters would be able to take of this opportunity, he said.

He said that recently, many Japanese companies have asked Vinasa tohelp them forge tight relationships with Vietnamese companies forlong-term stable cooperation.

Noting that the Japanese economy isrecovering, Cong said the most important thing is that Japan wants tohave more partners to supply software products instead of just Chinaand Vietnam is an ideal destination.

According to the JapaneseMinistry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the country poured about 30billion USD into software outsourcing per year and 75-80 percent ofthis goes to China.
 
The outsourcing orders that Japan sends toVietnam at present are just one thirtieth of the volume that Chinareceived.

Therefore, the new trend in the Japanese market to lookfor suppliers outside China is a huge opportunity for Vietnam, Congsaid.

Last year, the export turnover of Vietnamese software producers to Japan had significantly increased.

According to Vinasa, thanks to this trend, some companies recorded annual growth of up to 60 percent.
The leading software producer in Vietnam, FPT, has reported a 44 percent growth in its Japan business last year.

Other companies exporting software products to Japan have seen a minimum growth of 20 percent.
With Vietnamese companies catching up with global trends, it isexpected that software exports will increase significantly in thecoming year.

This year, Vinasa expects total software export turnover to increase by 30 percent, but more details have not been released.-VNA