The sector aims to earn US$50 billion in turnover, of which US$14 billion would be contributed by the hardware industry. The software, digital content and telecommunication industries would earn US$5 billion, US$5.2 and US$25 billion, respectively.

In order to reach the target, solutions involving human resources, investment market expansion and research, as well as fulfilling environmental duties need to be carried out, says Nguyen Trong Duong, acting head of MoIC’s Information and Communication Industry.

Duong suggests enhancing the application of information and communication technology in governmental offices to provide momentum for the IT sector.

He says these businesses should take advantage of Vietnam’s strengths such as software exports and outsourcing of IT services when they deal with foreign markets.

However, some wonder whether the target is too high because the sector’s turnover last year was US$ 6.26 billion, an increase of 20 percent against 2008 figures.

General Secretary of the Vietnam Informatics Association Nguyen Long says the hardware industry has contributed a huge amount of capital into the sector’s total turnover. However, the ministry should review the real value of the industry because most of the businesses operating in this field are foreign-invested companies.

Long proposes that the sector should clarify its real situation in order to provide development plans in the coming time.

The sector has been growing at the rate of 20 to 25 percent per year since 2000. As many as 1,000 businesses are operating in this field, which employs 57,000 labourers.