Increasing Vietnamese presence in software development

The interview with Mr. Bui Quang Huy – CEO of Rikkei Inc on Ritsumeikan University's Magazine, issue 281/July 2020.

I entered the Hanoi University of Technology, having been charmed by its study abroad program, and on my senior classmate’s recommendation, I decided to study abroad in Japan. I wasn’t allowed to study abroad unless I had high marks, so I spent most of my time studying Japanese in the morning and IT in the afternoon.  Once I finally was able to enroll in the software engineering field at Ritsumeikan University, I spent a fulfilling two years of my life as a member of both the go and soccer clubs. I returned from Japan, spent a year working for a major Vietnamese IT company, and then established Rikkeisoft with the classmates I had befriended while studying abroad. Speaking of, the “Ri” in Rikkeisoft comes from Ritsumeikan. Looking around, I see situations where people say such things as "even within Vietnam, the salaries of Vietnamese people are lower than those of foreigners" or "there are only a few guides and announcements overseas that are in Vietnamese,"  so, for the moment, Vietnam’s global presence is still developing. So, what motivates us is our desire to “make good things and show the rest of the world the power and the skill of the Vietnamese people”. Our main business is software development and we receive projects from companies in countries such as Japan and the United States, but we are also focusing on the development of our own services, especially in the fields of AI and robotics. An example of this would be the image recognition app released by our subsidiary, Rikkei AI: it is capable of distinguishing between different Vietnamese banknotes and helps support the daily lives of the visually-impaired. We made this not to make a profit but, to contribute to society. The Rikkei Group’s overall goal is to increase our number of employees to 10,000 within the next five years. For the growth of the company and its members, I have been diligently working to create an environment where people can help each other if they have any problems, whether it is at work or in private. Vietnam is a country with a bright future. With the power of our youth, we want to be able to turn it into a world-class country.

PROFILE:

Born in Vietnam. In 2009, during the course of his study at Hanoi University of Technology, he studied abroad at Ritsumeikan University's Faculty of Information Science and Engineering as a first term student of the IT human resources development program of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). After returning to Vietnam, he established Rikkeisoft Co., Ltd. in 2012 to develop software alongside his classmates from Ritsumeikan University. In 2016, Rikkei Co., Ltd was established in Japan and he assumed the post of representative director. On weekdays, he is busy with work but, on weekends, he values the time he spends with his wife and children.