An office of Viettel. The telecom group targets a 20 per cent growth rate in 2015. — Photo thitruongtaichinh.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Viettel is targeting a 20 per cent growth rate this year, with revenue of VND230 trillion (US$10.7 billion), and a 15 per cent jump in both profits and labour productivity.

The military-operated telecom group also hopes to report a record revenue of VND500 trillion ($23.3 billion) by 2020.

Nguyen Manh Hung, Viettel's General Director said at a conference held in Ha Noi on the weekend, where the company's performance during last year was reviewed, that it will commit to certain corporate social responsibility activities to further enhance its output.

A Viettel report showed that last year, the group continued to achieve strong revenue growth of VND197 trillion ($9.2 billion), a rise of 20 per cent in comparison with the average rate reported by other enterprises, and a VND42 trillion ($1.9 billion) pre-tax profit, contributing over VND15 trillion ($700.9 million) to the State budget. Its labour productivity rose by 14 per cent, employee incomes surged 10 per cent, and the company created nearly 80,000 jobs globally.

Viettel also received investment licenses from Peru and Cameroon, raising the total number of its foreign markets to nine.

Last year, the group earned a profit of $156 million on a turnover of nearly $1.2 billion from telecom services abroad, up 25 and 32 per cent against 2013, respectively.

Research and development, and equipment manufacturing are considered to be the three key pillars of Viettel's development strategy, apart from domestic and overseas telecommunications.

Notably, Viettel has mastered technology for its equipment and military weapon production; laying a solid foundation for the development of a defence industrial complex, firmly protecting the national sovereignty in all fields.

Its 3G network quality and coverage meet all criteria set by the relevant agencies, providing telecommunication, television and information technology services to clients, thus successfully transforming itself from an operator to a content and application provider.

Both General Phung Quang Thanh, the Minister of National Defence, and Nguyen Bac Son, the Minister of Information and Communications, applauded the firm's past achievements.

The Defence Minister also urged Viettel to maintain its leading position in the country's telecom market and gradually become one of the biggest firms in the sector globally.

He also stressed that the group should promote professionalism among is staff and produce more modern equipment for national infrastructure building and the defence cause. — VNS