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Lao IT service market surges
The Lao IT service market is estimated to grow 26 percent in 2011, with a total worth of 800 billion to 928 billion kip (US$100 million to US$116 million), according to material distributed at an industry conference last week.
“The market is expected to reach about 1.2 trillion kip (US$155 million) next year,” said CEO of International Data Group (IDG) Asean, Mr Le Thanh Tam.
Mr Tam was speaking in Vientiane on Friday at the 1st Lao Banking and Telecom World Conference and Expo 2011.
The Lao IT service market has been steadily growing, from 472 billion kip to 576 billion kip (US$59 million to US$72 million) in 2009 and escalating to 736 billion kip (US$92 million) last year.
“We have seen growth rates of 22 percent and 28 percent in the last two years,” Mr Tam said.
In the next few years, qualitative and quantitative indicators suggest that growth in the IT service sector will continue, along with major take-offs of various types of e- initiatives.
“They include e-Government, e-Education, e-Health and e-Commerce from the public sector and major private investments from the finance industry and telecommunications, for instance,” he said.
To accommodate this speed and size of growth, the IT service industry requires not only financial investment from both domestic and foreign sources, but also a huge pool of highly qualified IT personnel.
“The experience of Thailand and Vietnam can provide insights for the Lao IT industry,” he said.
Vietnam has a substantial skilled labour force specialised in ICT, and has ICT companies that are actively penetrating world markets.
“Now, entering Laos is a way IDG Vietnam can use their knowledge and experience to promote IT development in this market,” he said.
The conference handout noted that telecom companies in Laos and around the world must compete based on the quality of their services, network expansion and variety of services. That is the reason why the telecom sector has been developing so rapidly and with such strength.
The increasingly strong competition between telecom enterprises has benefited customers. At present, there are about 5.4 million mobile phone subscribers in Laos, accounting for about 83 percent of the population, and mobile phone networks reach 6,712 villages throughout the country.
Deputy Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Mr Padapphet Sayakhot said participants at the two-day conference and expo should take time to look around the exhibition and make contact with telecom operators and industry leaders for the mutual development of their businesses.
The event provided a great opportunity for participants, exhibitors, operators and visitors to gain insight into telecom and ICT technology and solutions that are most widely deployed and satisfy their areas of interest.
“It demonstrates useful applications of information technology in banking and in telecoms to help the two sectors develop in Laos,” Mr Padapphet said.
The conference was jointly organised by IDG, the Bank of the Lao PDR and the ministry, and was supported and sponsored by local and foreign banks and IT companies.
vientiane times
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