MEETING WITH Dr.TRUENE GIA BINH (MANAGIND DIRECTOR OF FPT) The corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology (EPT) was a wholly-owned government company incorporated under the auspices of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and the Environment (MOSTE). Dr. Binh, the managing director of EPT and son-in-law of a prominent general in Vietnam, elaborated on the difference in status between a representative office and an operating office. Basically, a representative office could only acquire goods required for the operation of the office. It was not allowed to receive payment for any products of services rendered but could provide marketing and support services as part of its distributor support service. Commenting of the attractiveness of the IT market, Dr.Binh felt that the financial sector would be very attractive, due to the high growth prospects and the prominence placed on it by the Vietnamese economy in the next three to four years.
MEETING WITH HAI CHAO DUY (DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL SERVICES AND OPERATIONS, VIETNAM MOBLE TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES) Hai Chao Duy expressed that he looked forward to a long-term relationship with HP. He mentioned the tremendous opportunities in Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services (VMS) to build networks. Today VMS supplied cellular services to 9000 subscribers in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The IT projects needed to facilitate the provision of cellular services were in operation, transmission, business support, finance, end-user computing, and e-mailing. He also mentioned that the next project would involve some management-system soft-ware for the telecommunication network.