Trương Gia Bình (born 1956 in Nghệ An Province) is a Vietnamese businessman. He is best known as the co-founder, chairman and CEO of the Vietnamese technology company FPT Corporation. Bình is also the vice president of The Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO), Chairman of Vietnam Software Association (VINASA).

Early life

Trương Gia Bình was born on 1956 in Nghệ An Province. His father, Truong Gia Tho, was a

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

. Binh attended Chu Van An high school in Vietnam, and then went to the Soviet Union for college. He graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1978. He obtained his PhD in 1982 from the same university. In 1991, Bình was recognized as an associate professor by the State of Vietnam.

Career

On September 13, 1988, Bình and 12 Vietnamese scientists founded the Food Processing Technology company, the predecessor of FPT. He became the head of the Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology, Vietnam's earliest

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

firm, in 1990. In March 2002, after the equitization of FPT, Bình became the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of FPT Corporation. Afterwards, he led the firm in its expansion from its origins as an

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

to other areas such as software

outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...

for Japanese companies. In 2006, his company opened

FPT University FPT University is a private university in Vietnam. FPT University is a member of FPT Group and has campuses in Hanoi (main), Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Can Tho and Quy Nhon (in progress). History When founded in 2006, Associate Professor Tr ...

, Vietnam's first private university; he also took up a position as the chairman of its managing board. He is speculated to be the richest person in Vietnam; as of January 2007, the value of his stake in FPT alone is VND2.6 trillion (US$164 million; 5,117,280 shares at VND525,000), according to the company's own prospectus. Bình himself is reportedly "tired" of the rumours. On July 16, 2012, Trương Gia Bình was appointed to a member of the National Council for Sustainable Development and Competitiveness Building. The council, chaired by Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Thiện Nhân, is tasked with developing strategies and key policies to set orientations and a legal framework for the country's sustainable development in the next decade.

Personal life

Trương Gia Bình was first married to Vo Hanh Phuc. She is the daughter of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Võ Nguyên Giáp Võ Nguyên Giáp (; 25 August 1911 – 4 October 2013) was a Vietnamese general and communist politician who is regarded as having been one of the greatest military strategists of the 20th century. He served as interior minister in President H ...

, a

Vietnam People's Army Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

general and politician. Giáp was VPA's Commander-in-Chief (1944–1976), Minister of Defence (1946–1980), deputy prime minister (1954–1991). Being the deputy prime minister in charge of science and technology from 1982 to 1991, Giáp lent a lot of help to Bình in founding FPT. The couple had one daughter.

Honors and public recognition

In February 2010, Bình was voted by the Post Newspaper, the voice of the Ministry of Information & Communications and ICT journalists from over 30 popular newspapers in Vietnam as one of the Vietnam's Top 10 ICT Persons of the Decade (2000–2009). In 2013, Trương Gia Bình was awarded

Nikkei Asia Prize The Nikkei Asia Prize (Japanese: 日経アジア賞) is an award which recognizes the achievements of people and organizations that have improved the lives of people throughout Asia. The awards were created and presented by Nikkei Inc, one of the l ...

2013. Dr. Trương is the first Vietnamese entrepreneur to be honored by Nikkei Inc. in 18 years. Bình received the award in the category of regional growth for having contributed to the development of his own company but also to the development of IT business in Vietnam. He set up a software industry organization and a university to foster IT experts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Truong, Gia Binh Living people Vietnamese businesspeople Vietnamese expatriates in the Soviet Union 1956 births Winners of the Nikkei Asia Prize