Vietnamese businesses hit global markets

Mozambique and Haiti were not favourable places for developing telecommunications. However, one Vietnamese business invested in these areas and committed to popularising telecommunications services in remote areas. They said inequality in information may lead to poverty.

"We expect Natcom to continue providing free internet services for schools in our country. This is an evidence of the solidarity between Vietnam and Haiti", Laurent Salvador Lamothe - Former Haitian Prime Minister - said.

With more than 35 million subscribers in 11 foreign markets, this Vietnamese business is the among telecommunication enterprises with the most customers in the world. Annual growth stands at around 25% - 10 times higher than the average level of the global telecommunication industry.

"Businesses in Vietnam may deal with both domestic and global issues. For instance, the first telecommunication companies often focus on urban markets because of higher profits. They don't care much about remote areas while any country wants to popularise telecommunication. So any Vietnamese firm who solves this problem can also go global", Nguyen Manh Hung - General Director of Viettel - said.

Although this business has only opened representative offices in foreign countries, they can still establish co-operation with more than 100 trade unions globally after 4 years, which helps them support 2,000 overseas Vietnamese trainees.

According to a recent survey on 500 enterprises done by Vietnam Report, nearly 45% of enterprises expect to invest in foreign markets in the next 5 years.

"The start-up movement also poses challenges to old enterprises that have a lot of capital and experience", Prof.Dr. Nguyen Quang Thai - General Secretary of Vietnam Economic Association - said.

Developing countries in Asia are now the most attractive markets to Vietnamese investors. However, Vietnamese firms are likely to face competition from other countries.