Foreigners Keen on Buying Stakes in Vietnam Telecom Firms

World giant telecom enterprises are seeking to buy stakes in Vietnamese telecom firms which are expected to offer shares to public soon.

 

Vietnam’s telecom and mobile phone service market is attracting interest of foreign investors, after the government granted 3G licenses and some companies is preparing for share sales, said the U.K.-based Business Monitor International (BMI) in its report on Vietnam Telecom Market in the third quarter of 2009.

 

Privatization of telecom enterprises will be a strong driving force for the industry’s development in the next five years, BMI said.

 

MobiFone, which is valued at $2 billion by Credit Suisse, plans to sell a 30% stake to foreigners via its initial pubic offering by the end of this year or early next year.

 

Meanwhile, VinaPhone, EVN Telecom, Viettel and Saigon Postel, plan to sell 30% of their capital to public.

 

Despite the slow privatization process, the world’s telecom giants such as Belgium’s Telenor, U.K.’s Vodafone, Japan’s NTT DoCoMo and France Telecom are pursuing their long-term investment plans in Vietnam, the BMI noted.

 

Under the WTO commitments, foreign companies will be permitted to set up subsidiaries to provide telecom services in Vietnam.

 

In the next five years, Vietnam telecom market will become an attractive destination for overseas investors, the BMI added. (Saigon Economic Times)