VietNamNet Bridge – M.A Zaman, chairman of Comvik International Vietnam AB, has met with Deputy Minister Le Nam Thang to propose the deal. The ministry is the administering agency of MobiFone.

Comvik had partnered with MobiFone for 15 years under a business cooperation contract, and is thus well knowledgeable about the Vietnamese market. Therefore, the company will have a better chance of success compared to other potential investors when investing in the local mobile carrier, Zaman said.

The deputy minister noted that as mobile technology in Vietnam is shifting from 3G to 4G, Vietnamese firms are in dire need of foreign investment and experience to develop and to branch out into global markets.

The contract signed with Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), formerly the parent firm of MobiFone, to develop the first mobile provider in Vietnam made the country one of the top three revenue-generating nations for Comvik. As such, this Swedish telecoms giant has expressed its strong interest in becoming a strategic partner of MobiFone.

In fact, a number of foreign telcos such as VodaFone, France Telecom, Singtel and Telenor have maintained offices in Vietnam since 2006 in order to wait for MobiFone’s equitization. Some of them however have left the market due to its equitization plan falling behind schedule but others are still interested in becoming strategic investors of the local carrier.

Mai Van Binh, chairman of MobiFone, said the company will complete and submit its equitization scheme to the Ministry of Information and Communications in the third quarter of this year. VNPT will have a maximum stake of 20% in MobiFone when this company turns into a shareholding concern.

“Shareholding of foreign companies in the local infrastructure firms can account for up to 49% in line with Vietnam’s commitments when joining the World Trade Organization (WTO),” Pham Hong Hai, head of the Telecom Department under the ministry, told a recent seminar on telecommunications.

SGT/VNN