Viettel looking back at ten years of development

Minister Chu Ngoc Anh was not tight-fisted with compliments for Viettel's achievements

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During the June 7 meeting with Viettel Corporation, Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh was given a summary of Viettel’s most distinctive breakthroughs and successes in its short 10 years of development, as well as the new image of the corporation. The minister lauded Viettel’s robust growth both in the fields of economy and technology innovation.

Impressive 10 years of development

According to his observations on Viettel’s 10-year road, Minister Ngoc Anh said that the company has been developing strongly, starting from the hi-tech industry and moving on to the defence industry.

With the policy of development closely related to the policies of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the government, and the Ministry of National Defence, Viettel has made large contributions to national production and facilitated national defence as well as cooperated with other factories and agencies to invest in qualified projects.

Viettel has been consistently setting the bar high, scoffing at challenges and looking for the most efficient approach in research and development. According to the minister, Viettel’s achievements were widely recognised not only in Vietnam but on various international forums.

Viettel is currently the No. 1 Vietnamese brand in technology and telecommunications, and has valiantly fought its way to the Top 100 most valued telecom companies worldwide.

Domestic and international recognition has brought many great prizes to Viettel, from international media awards to information technology prizes and accolades for innovative solutions and applications. Viettel lays special focus on national security and inter-services health system projects.

Minister Ngoc Anh said that in addition to being an international corporation that provides content, telecommunications services, IT and electronics, the company is looking to develop personalised approach solutions.

According to the minister, the world is preparing for the 4.0 Industrial Revolution, expecting incredible developments in broadband, 5G, and personal services. If Viettel positions itself right, it could lay solid foundations for a series of science and technology breakthroughs concocted in its research laboratories, achieving much more economic success.

Powerful impact on technology

Viettel is considered a top-tier corporation in the fields of economics and telecommunication. At recent governmental meetings, an important question arose: “How to improve enterprises’ technological capacity in order to be internationally competitive and contribute more to the economy?” The answer lies in technology-driven corporations.

A telling example would be the case of Samsung in Vietnam. It is commonly believed that Samsung has no domestic supporting businesses in Vietnam, but this is only half true. When Samsung started working in Vietnam they brought almost every supportive business along, barring local producers from joining its supply chain.

Likewise, if Viettel became stronger, it would lead and support other domestic companies. Currently, Vietnam has about 300 companies, not to mention the multitude of many institutes with strong technology apparatus.

In terms of civil products, Viettel could manufacture all the core, transmission, and access network components in the near future. The corporation has also introduced 15 military products and is currently researching 25.

Furthermore, the minister added that with the products of the A1 project, Viettel helps the Military Science and Technology Institute and the General Department of Defence Industry to approach projects quicker by a shorter progress of transfer and receipt.

“As a state-owned enterprise operating in the defence sector, Viettel has been very lively, developing successfully in both economical and national defence factors,” Minister Ngoc Anh said.

Minister Chu Ngoc Anh praised Viettel's unique position to fight at the forefront of technological development and drive Vietnamese policy making at the same time

Viettel’s impact on science and technology policy

At the meeting, Minister Ngoc Anh said that today national policies on science and technology aim to bring all new technology achievements into life as fast as possible. However, scientific and technological research receives only 2 per cent of the national budget, and actual disbursement is relatively low, while the government has not called for major capital from the private sector.

“In the near future, we will have to focus on calling investment from the private sector by utilising all resources, especially from leading domestic enterprises like Viettel. We are in desperate need of leading corporations, such as Viettel, who has contributed 10 per cent of its profit, an equivalent of VND4.5 trillion ($198 million), to domestic research and development,” said the minister.

Besides the financial contributions to the development of domestic technology, Viettel has also come out with innovative ways to promote scientific and technological research within its own groves as well as for startup groups.

For example, Viettel used to buy out good startup companies by acquiring 100 per cent equity. Today, Viettel only buys less than 20 per cent to motivate young people to keep working hard, supporting them with the necessary finances and technological know-how.

This policy of Viettel has positively influenced many technology projects, and thereby, these projects have positively influenced the way policies and regulations on science and technology are conducted.

In fact, while amending the current technology regulations, the authorised agencies were in direct discussion with Viettel and received numerous new comments on technology regulations. This contribution will create a foundation for the establishment of new business models and many other policies of Viettel.

As a leading enterprise in its field, Viettel also participated in the most important national science and technology programmes. Viettel is the No.1 company in network security and is therefore an active participant in creating products to ensure network security and safety.