While the world is looking at Huawei skeptically, the Chinese technology group is still confident that it will be able to expand in Vietnam and win the bid to provide 5G equipment to the country.

Fine Fan, CEO of Huawei Technologies Vietnam, said in Nikkei Asian Review that the group is confident of expanding in Vietnam.

He also said that Huawei is ready to conduct negotiations with potential partners in Vietnam about the trial use of 5G in Vietnam this year.

Huawei has been facing obstacles implementing its expansion plan as western countries have prohibited or reconsidered the possibility of allowing Huawei to provide equipment to 5G projects in their countries.

The Los Angeles Times on February 13 reported that the White House is drafting a decree on prohibiting Chinese firms from selling equipment to US telecom networks for fear of spy and cyberattack risks.

It did not specify the names of Chinese companies, but Huawei was assumed to be the company that the decree is targeting.

However, Huawei is still earning big money in Southeast Asia. Foreign media reported that leading Filipino telco Globe Telecom has chosen Huawei as the major equipment supplier for its 5G project.

Vietnam’s mobile network operators plan to officially launch 5G services by 2021. This is the right time for telecom equipment manufacturers, including Huawei, to approach telcos and conduct negotiations.

Many experts have protested against the use of Chinese equipment, saying that the equipment is a big threat to Vietnam’s security.  

On technology forums, members have called on to ‘boycott’ Chinese products. The  40th anniversary of the Vietnam-China 1979 border war, a political event, stands as a highlight on technology forums.

However, it is not easy to replace all Huawei’s equipment with Nokia’s, Ericsson’s or Samsung’s. And it is clear that Huawei is a potential candidate.

However, experts said that in the long term, Vietnam should not rely on import equipment, but produce its own equipment, for security reasons.

Hieu Minh, a technology expert, in an article on Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon, recalled an event that happened more than 40 years ago. At that moment, the Institute of Computational Science and Control cherished the dream of made-in-Vietnam personal computers.

However, the plan was canceled because of the view that it would be better and cheaper to import computers for domestic use. The problem, however, was not only economic efficiency and profits, but also national security.

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