NEC Solutions Vietnam Co merged with Sang Tao Corporation, the first between a Japanese company and a Vietnamese company in the IT sector.The Japanese-invested software firm said the merger would help the two firms better utilize labour forces, improve business efficiency, eliminate duplication of administrative expenses and curb the leakage of technologies. “As many as 50 percent of the new company’s operations will focus o­n overseas projects while the remaining 50 percent will focus o­n providing IT solutions and o­n networking,” said Masako Hirano, director of communications for NEC Asia, the parent firm of NEC Solutions Vietnam. The merger would also help NEC Solutions Vietnam get more access to development projects in Vietnam and neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, she said. Through this merger, the new company now has approximately 150 employees. The number of employees is expected to grow to 300 in the fiscal year starting April 2010 with a sales target of 11.3 million USD. While NEC Solutions Vietnam was established in April 2006 by NEC Soft and NEC Asia, HCM City-based software and web developer Sang Tao Corporation was established in 1998 and last year earned a revenue of 719,000 USD