Telecom firm Viettel Global to enter agri trade

Viettel Global, one of the biggest Vietnamese overseas investors, is venturing into new business lines, including agricultural goods trading.

The information seen in the documents for its upcoming annual general meeting is surprising news given Viettel Global's reputation for telecom products and services in Asian, African, and Latin American nations, which are its core business.

The giant explained that it is venturing into new business lines like wholesale of agricultural and forestry products and live animals as the scarcity of U.S. dollars in certain markets prevents its subsidiaries and affiliates from paying for equipment purchase contracts.

Viettel Global would also extend its business activities to commodity brokerage services and auctioning, data services, and solutions for capital recovery by commodities.

The firm's consolidated revenue reached VND22,618 billion ($974.8 million) in 2021, up 9.5% from 2020. However, profit before tax dropped by $3.8 million to $38 million.

It fell short of its target of 3 million new subscribers globally last year, barely reaching 1.89 million. This was mostly due to the political turmoil in Myanmar, which hampered Mytel's subscriber development, a joint venture between Viettel and the Myanmar government.

Viettel Global's international investment activities are expected to confront several hurdles this year, including political turbulence and rising raw material and commodity costs. Therefore, the firm has only set this year’s targets equal to the 2021 results.

The company identifies five key tasks in 2022, including promotion of merger and acquisition activities like selling stations and stakes in e-wallet companies, optimizing capital recovery, ensuring capital for markets and transferring money to Vietnam.

In 2006, Viettel Group, Vietnam’s largest telecommunications corporation, decided to extend its business overseas looking for more potential markets. Viettel Global was established October 2006 with a vision and responsibility of turning Viettel into a strong telecommunications group on the international stage.

Viettel Global has currently invested in 10 telecommunications network projects in Cambodia, Laos, Mozambique, East Timor, Cameroon, Burundi, Tanzania, Haiti, Myanmar, Peru, and three research and development projects in France, the U.S., and Russia. Most markets had high revenue growth in 2021, the company noted in a release.