Regional software parks aim for global markets

Development of software industries in the Asia-Oceania region will be the subject of an international conference beginning in Phuket tomorrow.

The third annual conference of the Asian Oceanian Regional Software Park Alliance has been arranged by Software Park Thailand, with an emphasis on partnership, and the theme "local link, global reach".

It is hoped the approach will strengthen software businesses in the region, thereby accelerating their development and pushing regional software industries on to the world's "software map".

The president of the Asian Oceanian Regional Software Park Alliance, Suwipa Wanasathop, said that the first stage for software industry development - local link - had already been adopted in Thailand.

The Local Software Park Alliance has been formed as a collaborative framework within which to boost the local software industry. The members of the local alliance include Software Park Thailand, Software Park Phuket, Samui Software Park, E-Saan Software Park, Korat Software Park and Chiang Mai Software Technology and Outsourcing Centre.

"The local alliance is a key engine to link software parks in each part of the country so they can share, transfer and utilise expertise and essential resources to increase Thailand's potential in software development as a whole," Suwipa said.

The local alliance has delivered the essential elements needed for a strong foundation upon which Thailand can become a destination for software development enterprises from around the world, she said.

The next step, to be emphasised at this week's conference, will enable "global reach". The regional alliance will use its international network platform to help software companies in each of its countries and territories to expand their businesses into global markets.

From an informal grouping in 2007, the alliance was set up in 2008 as an act of cooperation between software parks from nine countries and territories: Thailand, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Brunei, Nepal, Burma and Singapore. There are 16 software parks and related software-industry promotion organisations in the alliance.

Its main approach is to use the facilities and expertise of member organisations to enable software companies to cross borders and penetrate markets in other countries.

"We use the various software parks' facilities to serve alliance members. Software companies can use software parks in each country as a channel to facilitate expansion of their businesses, to penetrate target markets, find local partners, assist in setting up new companies or even arrange business matches," Suwipa said.

The beauty of the collaboration is that it allows members to share and exchange information and knowledge, which helps software companies to save costs in the process of penetrating other markets while getting closer in touch with those markets and importantly, reducing the risks of doing business aboard.

The regional alliance also encourages software businesses in each country to create partnerships by finding potential partners with whom to develop new software businesses.

Apart from penetrating each other's markets, the regional alliance also has what it calls its "third-country market penetration" strategy, which encourages regional businesses to expand beyond Asia-Oceania and to gain recognition in world markets.

"Using the alliance's collaboration network, regional software businesses will certainly gain benefits from the 'global reach' approach and turn partnerships into real business value," Suwipa said.

As the first president of the regional alliance, Suwipa has established all the strategies aimed at developing the visibility of software development in the Asia-Oceania region.

She said that with strong collaboration, the alliance could strengthen regional software industries and place software development in Asia-Oceania on the international software map.