Tokyo (VNA) - Over the past decade and a half, VNGhas diversified into cloud computing, ads, digital payments and media, andbuilt up one of the biggest digital user bases in Vietnam, said an articlerecently published on the Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asia.

VNG is a gaming startup-turned-tech conglomerate that hasbecome Vietnam's first unicorn.

According to the article, which discussed the firm’s bet onAI and overseas growth, VNG’s Zalo chat app has 62 million users, putting itbehind only Facebook and YouTube in terms of popularity in the country,according to We Are Social. This makes it a rare example of a local player thathas bested foreign rivals – in the rest of Southeast Asia, the most popularmessaging apps are imports, such as Line or WhatsApp.

Zalo boasts 39 functions (when combined with the payfeature) that allow users to do everything from make in-store purchases and buyflight tickets to pay school fees and access government services. The app isalso a gateway for numerous brands to connect with customers.

The article cited Vuong Quang Khai, executive vice presidentat VNG, as saying:
 "The next waveis AI. And we should invest."

In December, Zalo AI introduced Kiki for smart speakers,saying it was built on technology similar to Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri,but in Vietnamese.

Zalo AI work ranges from facial recognition, used by VietCapital Bank to verify clients, to Kiki's playlist, which was trained via themassive song library of another VNG business, Zing Music. A service totranscribe audio messages on Zalo chat is also under beta testing.

Meanwhile, Zalo is in talks with a leading dashboard company to unveil Kiki forthe mass car market by the third quarter of 2021.

Zalo's reach has helped VNG attract international backers, including twoSingapore state funds, Temasek and GIC, Goldman Sachs, and two funds believedto be owned by China's Tencent Holdings, valuing it worth of 2 billion USD,said the article.

Informing that VNG reported 8.3 million in after-tax profitlast year, the paper considered the company’s evolvement be in parallel with Vietnam.In 2004, it was Vinagame, a small startup capitalizing on the rise of computergames and internet cafes. Back then Vietnam, which had not yet joined the WorldTrade Organisation, was known less for trade.

In the interim the company became VNG and added a host ofservices vital to Vietnam's modern economy - payments, streaming, cloudcomputing - while the speed, stability and stickers of its chat app won overlocals. In the same period, the country signed a bevy of trade deals and itsfactories moved from shirts and purses to phones and chips./.