2014-02-04

The Vietnamese telecom market will improve vastly after its restructuring is complete, said Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son.



The export turnover of mobile phones and accessories increased to US$22.7 billion, which is 78.8 per cent higher than 2012's figure.

Minister Son said the restructuring of the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) would represent a breakthrough for the country’s telecom and information technology (IT) industry, especially since other local firms in the industry continue to face challenges on several fronts, the minister told reporters on the occasion of the Lunar New Year.

The minister mentioned the restructuring of VNPT while speaking about the group’s 2013 financial results and its targets for this year.

Son pointed out that the Ministry of Information and Communications has stepped up the pace of restructuring of the state-owned enterprises in the telecom industry.

He noted that the ministry had already submitted a plan for restructuring VNPT to the government. Under the plan, Mobifone (Vietnam Mobile Telecom Service Company) will be spun off from VNPT and privatised to renew the momentum for growth in the telecom sector. Minister Son added that that after the VNPT restructuring process is complete, Vietnam’s telecom market is likely to receive a boost to its development.

The privatisation process of Mobifone is expected to be implemented in accordance with Decision No. 58/2005/QD-TTg of March 23, 2005, approving the scheme on creating, on an experimental basis, the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Conglomerate.

Son pointed out that since the beginning of this year, the ministry has required media and related agencies to disseminate information about state policies and the results of the restructuring of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The minister said the ministry will pursue a faster pace of restructuring for SOEs by following the recommendations in the programme on reforming SOEs, with a focus on business groups and corporations, between 2011 and 2016. The programme was included in Decision 929/QD-TTG issued in July 2012 by the Prime Minister, as part of the guidelines of the Party and the State on reforming the national economy.

The ministry will urge the telecom companies to diversify their services, raise their professional standards, enhance the use of advanced technology and improve the scope and extent of their value additions. The ministry has also directed the Vietnam Multimedia Corporation (VTC) to outline a plan to separate its digital television operations from the corporation, following Decision 132/2013/ND-CP issued in October 2013. A plan to restructure the corporation will be decided after the spin-off of the television operations is complete.

2013 results

Son said that last year had been a very tough year for telecom companies, as they faced several challenges. However, the sector had taken every effort to overcome these difficulties.

Indeed, the telecom sector made significant contributions to the country’s economic growth last year.

It is estimated that last year, the export turnover of mobile phones and accessories increased to US$22.7 billion, which is 78.8 per cent higher than 2012′s figure.

Similarly, the revenue from the exports of electronic components and computers amounted to $11.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 41.8 per cent, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). Thus, the export value of the telecom and IT sector climbed to $33.9 billion, accounting for 25.6 per cent of the country’s total export turnover (the country’s total export turnover for 2013 came in at $132.2 billion).

VNPT posted a revenue of VND119 trillion ($5.6 billion), up 102.5 per cent from 2012, while Viettel’s total revenue is estimated at VND162 trillion ($7.7 billion), up 15.2 per cent over 2012. Together, VNPT and Viettel contributed more than VND25 trillion to the VND174.2 trillion collected by the authorities for the state budget.

(Source: Biz Hub)

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