The information technology (IT) boom is expected to help Vietnam become the Silicon Valley of Southeast Asia, according to an article posted on the website //www.pcmag.com. The article, entitled “Vietnam’s Tech Boom: A Look Inside Southeast Asia’s Silicon Valley,” said Vietnam had barely any IT companies 15 years ago, but now there are close to 14,000 IT businesses spanning hardware, software and digital content. The Vietnamese Government sees the tech sector as the linchpin of the country’s economic growth, it said, adding that the country has invested heavily in infrastructure and passed economic policies encouraging both domestic and international entrepreneurs to do business in Vietnam. Da Nang is the fourth biggest city in Vietnam, a tourist location known more for its beach resorts and fire-breathing Dragon Bridge than its hi-tech sector. However, after heavy government investments in building a new airport and a highway system, the city’s infrastructure is suited for large-scale economic growth, the article said. It cited that in 2012, the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) opened its representative office in the city. The same year, the company recognised Da Nang as one of the 33 cities worldwide to receive IBM’s Smartest Cities Challenge grant and a 50-million-USD programme to revamp the city’s infrastructure within three years. The article said the Da Nang Hi-Tech Park, one of several established as part of Vietnam’s 2020 IT Master Plan, houses offices and factories for a growing number of international IT and software companies, hardware manufacturers and infrastructure plants powering the central Vietnamese city at the heart of a tech boom. With a population of over 90 million and a median age of 30.3, Vietnam is defined by a growing population of young coders, engineers, entrepreneurs and students, which is expected to drive local economic growth and technological innovation, it said. The system of universities from the capital of Hanoi in the north to the coastal central city of Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City in the south churns out hundreds of well-trained IT and software engineering graduates annually, the article said, adding that many are recruited right out of school by companies like Cisco, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Intel, LG, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba. More than 150 multinational tech companies along with over 200 Vietnamese IT and outsourcing companies and 20 universities are expected to participate in a tech conference to be held in Ho Chi Minh City in October of this year.-VNA