Being a growth market, Vietnam is forecast to experience a GDP increase of 6.2 percent this year, according to the World Bank. For security, however, growth will be double-digit, with companies participating in Secutech Vietnam estimating an average of 15 percent in 2016. The growth mostly comes from spending by the go
Being a growth market, Vietnam is forecast to experience a GDP increase of 6.2 percent this year, according to the World Bank. For security, however, growth will be double-digit, with companies participating in Secutech Vietnam estimating an average of 15 percent in 2016. The growth mostly comes from spending by the government and private sectors, as well as people's increased awareness on security.
According to Do Duc Hau, President and CEO of systems integrator Techpro, the government now places a higher importance on security compared to before. “For government offices, in the past they pretty much didn't care about security. Most of them used manual guards,” he said. “But now, all new government buildings are equipped with video surveillance and access control. While this may not be to such a great extent, the critical areas such as perimeters and main entrances are well protected.”
Also, security is also seen on more infrastructure projects, for example highways. “In the past there was no CCTV on highways,” Hau said. “But for all new highway constructions, video surveillance is installed.”
The private sector presents business opportunities as well, and this is especially the case in retail, which is seeing an increasing number of convenience store chains like VinMart and Family Mart. The former, for example, has thousands of stores in Vietnam, each equipped with about 10 cameras that are both recorded on individual sites and transmitted to the control center where monitoring is done.
“All these stores use IP surveillance now,” Hau said, adding currently in the country the analog-IP ratio stands at roughly 50-50, “with the number for IP slightly bigger.”
Besides government and private investment, people's increasing awareness on safety and security is also a driver. “In the past, very few people paid attention to security. But now, with the widespread nature of the media, once a crime takes place everyone will know, and they become concerned,” Hau said.
Also according to him, increased awareness on security has led to a proportionate increase in knowledge. “In the past, households used mechanical locks or other simple methods to protect. Now, they have learned to use security technology such as video cameras and access control,” he said.