In conversation with
Lê Xuân Hải

FDI Spotlight: What would you say are the main challenges and achievements of VietSoftware International Inc. so far?

Mr. Le Xuan Hai: I will start with our achievements first. Despite the fact that we are small we’ve been the largest Vietnamese software supplier to IBM US since 2003. Our next big achievement is to leave our footprint in Japan and we are working very hard for it. We also increased as a company, from having a small team of 20 people to a few hundred engineers. We started training people in-house at our company with many programmes focused on engineering and Japanese language and culture. Because the demand is high, we are also going to offer a few thousand engineering opportunities to other Vietnamese software companies to work in Japan.

Over the last 10 years, I would say that the challenges our country has faced have been the lack of training and resources. Many companies are not understanding how meaningful is to invest in proper training for their staff and there is no norm to qualify engineers. Their skills and abilities to perform the job is seen through customer contracts so if the customer is happy, that is seen as enough. They are missing the implementation of a qualification system for engineers to meet the level of quality on an international basis.

What would you highlight as the key factors for ease of doing business?

Mr. Le Xuan Hai: I believe the best practice to follow is collaboration. In order to establish a business relation between partners, they need to understand each other, their different approach and culture. Since 2006, our company promotes this concept, a concept that I learned from the manager of IBM. So we strongly believe that this is the key for working together with our local customers as well as with the international ones. We are looking for new investors that can share our values and believe in the potential of Vietnam.

How confident are you in Vietnam becoming the next digital hub in the region?

Mr. Le Xuan Hai: I feel that the opportunity is there but there is a long way to go. The potential is there because we are catching up with modern technology. This is beneficial for us because we can learn, invest and promote development inside the country for our younger generations. There are many channels for investment such as seeding but we need many more sources of investment to get there; we can’t do it alone. In order for our country to become at least the digital hub of this region, we must see a clear strategy from higher public levels.

What is your added value in the market and what sets VietSoftware apart from your competitors?

Mr. Le Xuan Hai: We don’t see each other as competitors because we are small and the group is not big enough for us to have competitors. In terms of our value, we probably bring the most added value to the international market. We like to work in our own way, sometimes slowly but always providing services of the highest quality thus making our customers and partners following our collaboration concept on the long term run. IBM has mentioned that we are very flexible in business in terms of negotiations and our support to them. In 2012, we became the first Vietnamese company to do Software Oriented Architecture (SOA) business with The Information Bus Company (TIBCO) to supply and implement the SOA system. Many banks are using this service we provide and within the domestic market, we are trying to change the values of our customers by using the right technology and architecture.

Currently, what strategies are in place that aim at attracting new partnerships and new investors?

Mr. Le Xuan Hai: We want to expand internationally and not only grow within Vietnam. Firstly, we want to expand our services in Japan because their market lacks the required engineers, and we also want to open a branch in the US, which we’ve been trying to do for the past 10 years. Our biggest constraint is that all our financial support is supplied by the projects we run, so by investing in more projects we expand our people and offices, which means we will need new resources.

At the moment, we are also changing our internal systems so we focus on five or six product directions, which is different to the way we operated before. We are focusing on what we do well, testing it thoroughly, and offer our customers customisation instead of doing everything from scratch. We have also changed our infrastructure to the Cloud based system and we also do product development.

What makes you proud of being Vietnamese?

Mr. Le Xuan Hai: I think it feels very natural. I’m Vietnamese and I’m proud of being Vietnamese. I see it as a very basic question and answer. Personally, I believe the Vietnamese have their own characteristics and values that make us recognizable from other countries and people. Every nation has something of their own.

How beneficial is the TPP for your sector and for Vietnam’s economic growth?

Mr. Le Xuan Hai: I think the TPP Agreement is going to bring many advantages to our country and will make changes in terms of our policies and mind set, which is important. As a private company, we expect a better promotion for us, the business sector and concrete support from the government.

Do you think that the government should implement any reforms in order to attract more foreign investors and companies to Vietnam?

Mr. Le Xuan Hai: I think the government has been doing that. They understand the opportunities Vietnam has to offer. Especially in our sector, we have small and medium software businesses that include innovation. What I don’t see are clear strategies set for us to become a digital hub. Like Malaysia, Singapore or Korea, all of whom have clear strategies for becoming more high tech, I don’t see this yet here.

What is your message for our readers of Newsweek magazine?

Mr. Le Xuan Hai: Our company has many ambitions in doing business, to accomplish our mission, to drive our people and make sure they have jobs, to have good international relations, changing the values of our customers. I hope for our potential partners to understand our company operations and the industry from an internal point of view.