Microsoft Inks Deal With Vietnam IT Provider
Under the agreement reached during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hanoi, Microsoft will help train and certify FPT engineers to encourage Vietnamese enterprises to migrate to Windows Server 2003, the companies said in a statement.
Microsoft also pledged to improve FPT's access to its network of partners and customers in Southeast Asia while building its ability to tackle large infrastructure management and government projects.
The agreement builds on a partnership cemented in April, when the two companies established a Microsoft Competency Center after a visit to Vietnam by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.
FPT has attracted a host of potential partners and investor interest ahead of an impending listing on the Ho Chi Minh City exchange. Its profits jumped over 80 percent in 2005, and local over the counter markets currently value the vendor at over $700 million.
Last month Intel Capital teamed up with private equity firm Texas Pacific Group to invest $36.5 million in FPT, citing the firm's strong recent performance and the double-digit growth of Vietnam's nascent IT market.
