The board of directors of Indian multinational IT firm Hindustan Computers  (HCL Technologies) has approved a long-term investment plan in Vietnam, according to HCL’s Executive Vice President Sanjay Gupta. 

Nguyen Van Phong, chairman of Hung Yen People’s Committee (r) and HCL’s Executive Vice President Sanjay Gupta (l). Source: Hung Yen newspaper.

The company targets to train and develop 10,000 – 20,000 IT engineers across the country for a network of IT centers, said Gupta in a meeting with Nguyen Van Phong, chairman of Hung Yen People’s Committee on November 11.

Gupta said HCL is looking for a location of 5 – 10 hectares in Vietnam’s northern city of Hung Yen, nearly 50 kilometers away from Hanoi, to set up a mixed-use development to accommodate 5,000 – 10,000 IT engineers of the company in the coming time.

At the meeting, Chairman of Hung Yen People’s Committee Phong welcomed HCL’s plan to invest in the province, saying local authority fully support HCL’s operation and business.

HCL Technologies is on the Forbes Global 2000 list. It is among the top 20 largest publicly traded companies in India with a market capitalization of US$18.7 billion as of May 2017.

The Indian IT company operates in 44 countries, including its headquarters in Noida, India, recording revenue of US$8.6 billion in 2018.

In May, Gupta visited Ho Chi Minh City to discuss a potential investment of a US$650-million IT center, which would employ 10,000 IT engineers in the next five years. In a meeting with Ho Chi Minh City’s authority, Gupta said Vietnam’s macro-economic conditions and policies are suitable to HCL’s investment plan.

According to Gupta, the company’s decision to choose Vietnam as an investment destination is not due to the cheap labor cost, but the potential of the market which resembles that of India with a booming IT sector 10 years ago.