Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc praisedthe military-run Viettel Group as having created a new growth model for Vietnamat a ceremony on December 17 to mark the telecom group’s 10 years investmentabroad.

The PM noted that Viettel has grown into the biggest telecomand IT group in Vietnamand also the first Vietnamese company to enjoy successful investment abroad onlarge scale thanks to focusing on products and services with high added valuesinstead of exploiting natural resources or low-cost workforce.

He said the group’s success has reinforced international communityand partners’ trust, while inspiring other Vietnamese firms in investingabroad, adding that Viettel’s projects have also helped strengthen thefriendship and cooperation between Vietnam and host countries.

He urged the firm to promote the startup spirit in twopromising sectors of telecommunication and IT.

PM Phuc expressed his hope that in the next 10 years,Viettel will double and even triple its overseas market, becoming a global enterpriselisted among the top 20 telecommunication firm in the world.

During the ceremony, Viettel also announced that it has receivedthe 10th investment licence abroad for a joint venture in Myanmar. Withthe joint venture, the group has expanded its coverage to 11 countries with atotal population of 320 million. Tanzaniaand Burundiare among its most profitable markets.

Viettel is running a total 360,000km of optical cable in ninecountries, equivalent to nine rounds around the earth.

In 2016, nine companies run by Viettel abroad have a totalvalue of 4.5-5 billion USD. This year, the group’s overseas revenues are likelyto reach 1.4 billion USD, raising its total overseas earnings so far to 6.5billion USD with an average growth of 25 percent annually.

Viettel is currently serving 100 million customers,including 35 million abroad, 12 times higher than that in its first year ofinvestment abroad. It is now ranked among the world’s top 30 telecoms companiesin terms of number of customers.

Major General Nguyen Manh Hung, General Director of Viettel,revealed that the firm will continue investing in infrastructure system toprovide 4G services widely at a reasonable cost, while continue expanding itsinvestment in production.

Viettel aims to become one of the top 20 telecomsenterprises in the world in the future, he stated./.