Hanoi (VNA) — The military-run mobile carrier Viettel is planning to expand itsinvestments to Indonesia and Nigeria, two countries with large populations,group leaders told the annual general meeting of Viettel Global, a subsidiaryof the Viettel Group.

Asof June 2016, the populations of Indonesia and Nigeria numbered 258 million and187 million, respectively. As per the company’s plan, Viettel will penetratethese markets by bidding for an operation licence and entering joint venturesor striking acquisition deals, nearly doubling the total population of itsexisting investment markets.

Indonesia,the biggest Southeast Asian economy, is home to 70 percent of the region’spopulation but only 58 percent of its residents are 3G or 4G subscribers. InNigeria, Africa’s most populated country, 3G subscriptions are also far frombooming.

Investmentsin the two countries would create conditions for Viettel to continue expandingto other regions, according to the group.

Previously,Viettel Global submitted the investment plans for Nigeria and Indonesia to itsannual general shareholders’ meeting by the end of April 2017 for approval.

ViettelGlobal targeted revenue of over 1.3 billion USD this year, up 29 percentyear-on-year, with pre-tax profit of 5 million USD.

Thegroup had 24 million subscribers last year, earning revenue of 1.04 billion USD,down 21 percent compared to 2015.

Sharpdeclines were seen in two markets - Mozambique and Burundi - due to exchangerate fluctuations.

Othermarkets, however, continued to see revenue growth, such as Tanzania, with 1.34 percent,Cameroon with 43 percent, Mozambique with 7 percent, and Haiti with 6 percent.

Thetelecom provider currently has operations in nine overseas markets includingLaos, Cambodia, East Timor, Cameroon, Haiti, Mozambique, Burundi, Peru, andTanzania, with operations in Myanmar expected to begin in the first quarter ofnext year.

ViettelGlobal has one of the largest overseas investments among Vietnamese enterprises.

Viettelearned 226.5 trillion VND in revenue in 2016, equal to 100 percent of itsannual plan, while pre-tax profit was 43.2 trillion VND, or 101 percent of itsannual plan.

Italso contributed 40.4 trillion VND to the State budget.

Themilitary-run company had 7.4 million new subscribers as at the end of 2016,bringing its total to 90 million.

Viettelwins largest smart project in Laos

Unitel,a joint venture between Vietnamese Viettel Global Joint Stock Company and LaosAsia Telecom, has won the contract to create an information system andmanagement register of civil status – the largest smart society project inLaos.

Thisproject offers local citizens a chance to electronically register theirinformation on births, marriages and death records.

Ithas been invested by the Laos Ministry of Interior, to establish a solidfoundation for its population to connect with relevant agencies via a system ofregistration of all births and deaths, birth certificates, death certificates,as well as the compilation and dissemination of statistics, including causes ofdeath, marriage, divorce, separations, adoptions, immigration, immigrants andchanges of residence. This is not an independent system, but part of theoverall view of the country’s population.

Launchedin October 2009, Unitel defeated five strong rivals who provide IT systems forLaos’ Ministries and other units.

Unitelcollaborated with Solution Centre of Information Technology andTelecommunications Viettel to prepare negotiations, construction records andpresentation solutions to win the package.

Itis expected that the Laos Ministry of Interior will sign the contract in May tobuild the project’s Phase 1 in three localities with 31 districts, includingthe capital Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Champassack.

Viettel, the military-run telecom group, saidits brand names have been seen in many foreign markets, showing its strongcommitment to ensuring ICT solutions for governments, organisations andbusinesses in those countries it has invested in. — VNA