Boeing urges telecom giant Viettel to become tier-1 supplier

Boeing has urged Viettel, Vietnam's biggest telecom business, to grow from a tier-3 to tier-1 supplier, in order to directly supply goods to the U.S. aviation giant.

Vietnam's aviation sector would develop strongly and become better than those in many nations in the next 10 years, Boeing's country director Michael Nguyen told a conference on innovation in manufacturing quality management for entering the global supply chain on Monday.

Boeing wants to cooperate directly with Vietnamese suppliers as the ongoing collaboration is mostly via Japanese and South Korean partners, he added.

Currently, six Vietnam-based businesses are suppliers of components and software for Boeing, of these only one company is Vietnamese.

Boeing eyes to build a supply chain in Southeast Asia, with Vietnam as a strategic location, for tasks of production, sustainable aviation, and research & development, the representative of Boeing noted.

He highlighted the importance of human resource development, including capable universities and training institutes, adding that Boeing and Viettel are working together in this task by sending American experts to the Vietnamese firm.

After 28 years of operating in Vietnam, Boeing has provided 220 aircraft to the Southeast Asian nation.

In reply, lieutenant colonel Nguyen The Nghia, general director of Viettel Manufacturing Corporation (VMC), a unit of military-run Viettel, said it is not easy to join the global aviation supply chain due to fastidious requirements related to production, workforce, infrastructure, and information governance.

Additionally, two-thirds of Vietnamese businesses are not yet ready to join the global supply chain, while recent hardships in the global market have brought about more difficulties, he added.

Addresing the event, senior lieutenant general Vu Hai San, Deputy Minister of National Defense, said it is a necessity that Vietnamese companies must further join the global supply chain and utilize opportunities to become a global manufacturing hub.

"However, Vietnamese firms now only focus on miscellaneous tasks, and not fundamental ones like workforce, innovation, and technology."