Hanoi, Vietnam, 17 July 2007 -- Singapore Telecommunications Limited (“Singtel”) and Vietnam’s State Capital Investment Corporation (“SCIC”) today announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) to provide for a cooperation framework between the two sides.
Under the MOU, the areas of cooperation will include the exchange of experiences relating to corporate governance and equitisation as well as developments in investment laws and the telecommunications industry.
Commenting on the signing, Mdm Le Thi Bang Tam, Chairwoman of SCIC, said: “The MOU with Singtel is our first MOU with a telecommunications operator. Singtel, with its strong telecom expertise and extensive experience across the region, is a good partner to share useful industry and economic insights. Our partnership will create greater opportunities for the growth of SCIC and the development of the broader telecom sector in Vietnam.”
The MOU will further strengthen the already good relationship between SCIC and Singtel. It will provide a common platform for open sharing, development updates and regular dialogue between the two organisations.
Mr Lim Chuan Poh, Singtel’s Chief Executive Officer International, said: “Vietnam is a market that has many similarities with the other South-east Asian markets that Singtel has invested in. Our experience in those markets will enable us to bring much value to the local telecom sector.
“As part of our exploration of the Vietnamese telecom sector, we have actively engaged key organisations such as SCIC, the Ministry of Posts and Telematics and the local operators. We are highly impressed with the way the SCIC is managing its state-owned enterprises’ affairs. The MOU will bring our relationship with SCIC to a higher level and we look forward to contributing to SCIC’s efforts in Vietnam’s economic development."
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The State Capital Investment Corporation (or SCIC for short) was founded under the decisions of 151/2005/QD-TTg and 152/2005/QD-TTg made by the Prime Minister of Vietnam on the 20th June, 2005. The foundation of SCIC is in light with the progress of economic reform and state-owned enterprise transformation in Vietnam. Primary objectives of the SCIC’s establishment are to facilitate and improve efficiency of the state-owned enterprise reform, and efficiency of capital resources of the government.
The SCIC will be a sole ownership representative of the government capitals at the independent restructured and equitised enterprises. The SCIC will monitor and conduct its capitals based on the market mechanism and its own investment scheme and strategy in order to support Vietnam capital market development, and economic growth as a whole. The ownership takeover of the SCIC aims at removing administrative management intervention of governmental authorities from the enterprise’s business. The SCIC registered a charter capital of 5.000 billions dong or equivalent to 312 million US dollars.
The SCIC has started operations since the August 2006 and fully complies with the law on enterprises, and other related laws and regulations promulgated by the government. The SCIC is envisaged to be a conglomerate and proactive crucial player in Vietnam financial markets through going into some joint-venture companies, and investment funds, and global-linked corporations.
More information can be found at www.scic.vn
About Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel)
Singtel is Asia's leading communications group with operations and investments around the world. Serving both the corporate and consumer markets, it is committed to bringing the best of global communications to customers in the Asia Pacific and beyond.
With significant operations in Singapore and Australia (through wholly-owned subsidiary Singtel Optus), the Group provides a comprehensive portfolio of services that include voice and data services over fixed, wireless and Internet platforms.
To serve the needs of multi-national corporations, Singtel has a network of 37 offices in 19 countries and territories throughout Asia Pacific,Europe and the United States. These offices enable Singtel to deliver reliable and quality network solutions to its customers, either on its own or jointly with local partners.
The Group also has major investments in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.
It recently announced its latest investment in Warid Telecom in Pakistan. Together with its associated companies, Singtel will have a major presence in eight regional cellular markets with a total of more than 130 million customers.
Singtel employs more than 19,000 people worldwide and had a turnover of S$13.15 billion (US$8.40 billion) and net profit after tax of S$3.78 billion (US$2.42 billion) for the year ended 31 March 2007. More information can be found at www.singtel.com.
