President Thuong asks Huawei to develop 5G in Vietnam

Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong has asked Chinese tech giant Huawei to continue cooperating with authorities and businesses in Vietnam to develop digital infrastructure, 5G, and broadband in the Southeast Asian country that is seeking to accelerate digital transformation.

At a meeting with Liang Hua, chairman of Huawei, on the sidelines of the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Thursday, Thuong hailed Huawei’s achievements in Vietnam and expressed hope that large Chinese corporations, including Huawei, will enhance cooperation and continue investing in Vietnam.

Liang Hua pledged to help improve Vietnam’s digital competitiveness and wished to contribute more to the development of a digital economy, digital society, and energy transition in Vietnam.

Huawei is working with some universities to train talents, and stands ready to cooperate with Vietnam in training digital human resources, Liang Hua added.

Huawei is a leading Chinese group in ICT infrastructure, digital energy, cloud computing and terminal equipment. It is present in over 170 countries and regions and ranks fourth in the world in terms of research and development investment

Vietnamese mobile network operators are conducting 5G commercial trials and are poised to deploy 5G from 2024.

In a talk with The Investor, Denis Brunetti - president of Ericsson Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, said he hoped for strong data growth in Vietnam when commercial 5G is launched. With 5G in place, high growth and industrial areas will benefit from smart manufacturing (Industry 4.0) efficiencies and sustained productivity.

Also on Thursday, the Vietnamese president met with Li Zixue, chairman of the board of directors at ZTE, a multinational telecommunications equipment manufacturing corporation.

Praising ZTE’s business activities in Vietnam, Thuong emphasized that Vietnam wants Chinese enterprises, especially large enterprises with high levels of science and modern technology, to invest and expand in Vietnam. He believed that ZTE will have closer and more effective cooperation with Vietnamese businesses in the future.

Li Zixue said ZTE wishes to contribute to building digital infrastructure in Vietnam, thereby strongly supporting economic development.

Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong met with Cai Qi, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, member the Committee’s Secretariat and Chief of the Committee’s Office, in Beijing on October 19.

During the meeting, Thuong called on China to continue expanding the import of Vietnamese farm produce, increase investment in major projects typical for its development level, step up the partnership in connecting the countries’ road and railway infrastructure. He also suggested boosting cooperation in developing the digital economy, digital infrastructure and digital manpower.