VietNamNet Bridge – Both Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and military-run telecom company Viettel are bolstering their business and investment in foreign markets to add revenue streams.

VNPT International (VNPT-I) under the State-owned group on Monday opened a representative office in Cambodia as the first one in Southeast Asia.

VNPT’s board chairman Pham Long Tran said the office was launched after the cooperative relationship had been established between VNPT and its Cambodian counterparts.  Therefore, subsidiaries under the group will have more opportunities to work with the neighboring country in various fields, especially in software and information technology solutions.

Meanwhile, Viettel has reaped a rich dividend from this market.

Its total revenues hit VND90 trillion in the first half of this year, up 28% compared to the same period of 2013, according to Viettel’s deputy general director Hoang Son.

Its revenues from offshore operations, mainly from such markets as East Timor, Peru, Cameroon, Mozambique, Cambodia, Laos and Haiti, reached VND12 trillion in the first six months of this year, Son said.

“Viettel is striving to enter Africa as it is negotiating with partners in several countries including Tanzania, Kenya and the Congo to apply for investment certificates,” Son said.

In addition to those markets, Viettel joined the tenders in Myanmar but its investment license of mobile services was not granted. The telecom company is now looking for deals with the chosen contractors to invest in this country.

Senior officials of the Ministry of Information and Communications said Viettel also struck several cooperative agreements with some telecom companies in Cuba during a recent visit to the country. It is likely that Viettel will soon invest in mobile services in Cuba in the coming time.

Its revenues from foreign countries last year accounted for 15% of the group’s total of VND163 trillion.

SGT/VNN