Vietnam’s telecom giant Viettel was licensed last Saturday to execute a telecom infrastructure project for the second stage of the Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) in HCMC’s District 9.

Viettel said the telecom infrastructure and communications service project worth VND42.5 billion (US$1.94 million) would enable production and trading enterprises at SHTP to turn out more value-added services and products.

As part of the project, the group will develop a 35.2-kilometer-long optic fiber cable line and 14 mobile transceiver stations, as well as offices and an operation center on 500 square meters.

A source from SHTP said Viettel is expected to complete the telecom infrastructure project late this year to serve the Samsung project worth US$1.4 billion to produce electronics products, and other large-scale projects at the park.

Also on Saturday, Nguyen Tat Thanh University in HCMC got a license to build a technology training center on an area of 1.48 hectares at the park.

The center will train high-quality employees for hi-tech industries, including information technology, biotechnology, microelectronics technology and automation, precision engineering, new material technology, and nanotechnology.

Every year, the VND405-billion center will also run refresher and advanced courses for 2,000 managers and technicians to meet the requirements of enterprises, particularly those in hi-tech industries. It will also open long-term courses to train 1,200 technicians and candidates at higher levels.

Graduates of the center will be given certificates meeting national and international standards as the center runs the courses in cooperation with foreign organizations such as Edexcel and City & Guild of the UK, Meiho University and Nanjeon University of Taiwan, AEU University of Malaysia, GTZ of Germany, and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

By the end of 2014, SHTP had had 68 valid projects with combined registered capital of more than US$4.17 billion, including US$816 million of domestic enterprises for 36 projects, and the rest for 32 foreign direct investment projects.

So far, enterprises at the park have posted total export revenue of US$9.8 billion and import spending of nearly US$8.79 billion.