Hanoi (VNA) - MPOS Vietnam Technology Joint StockCompany and Malaysia’spayment service provider GHL Systems Berhad  signed a strategiccooperation agreement on electronic payments in Hanoi on November 8. The agreement will open upopportunities for vigorous development of electronic payments in Vietnam and Southeast Asiafor MPOS. It also marked GHL’s first step to enter the Vietnamese market. Nguyen Huu Tuat, general director ofMPOS Vietnam, said as the only mobile payment service provider in Vietnam, hestrongly believes in the potential of this strategic partnership. Through GHL, MPOS will expand itsbusiness activities in all other markets in the region, exporting paymenttechnology developed by the Vietnamese people, aiming to become the"Square” of Southeast Asia, he added. Shimon Loh, GHL Systems Berhad’s vicechairman, said GHL believes Vietnamhas key factors for the explosive growth of electronic payments. The strengths of both companies willenhance MPOS’s position in the field of electronic payment in Vietnam andASEAN, he noted. This strategic partnership iscomplemented by ACTIS, a 13 billion USD investment fund in Fintech and also thelargest shareholder in GHL, he said. Vietnam’s electronic payment market isgrowing significantly with more than 112 million cards issued by 40 financialinstitutions, however, there are only some 300,000 devices accepting payment. Therefore, the next strategy of MPOSand GHL is strongly promoting the development of mobile and internet basedpayment methods, including QR-Code and NFC. The cooperation between MPOS and GHLwill open a new direction in the development strategy of the two sides,bringing more benefits to card accepting units and customers, promoting themarket’s development for electronic payment not only in Vietnam, but throughout SoutheastAsia. Established in 2014, MPOS is currentlythe first and the only Vietnamese firm that is able to replace the traditionalheavy-duty card acceptors with compact card readers connected to a mobile phonevia Bluetooth. MPOS is cooperating with 3,000business units at more than 7,000 points accepting payment cards, helping toincrease sales and profits through the solution "interest-free installmentpayments." Meanwhile, GHL Systems Berhad is a leading paymentservice provider in ASEAN, operating in Malaysia,Philippines, Thailand, Indonesiaand Australiamarkets. GHL manages more than 160,000 merchants in ASEAN accepting credit cardand debit card payments, prepaid payments, electronic wallets, mobile top-upsas and fee-collecting services.-VNA