Nguyen Trung Chinh (third from left), general director of CMC Corporation and TIME dotCom Berhad CEO Afzal Abdul Rahim (fifth from left) at the signing ceremony. The Malaysian group completes the purchase of 25 per cent of CMC Telecom's stake on May 8. — Photo courtesy of CMC Telecom

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Malaysian group TIME dotCom Berhad (TIME) completed the purchase of 25 per cent of CMC Telecom's stake on May 8.

The cost of the purchase was not disclosed.

CMC Telecom becomes the first Vietnamese telecom company to sell shares to an international group and the investment marked the first step among the TIME group in operating in the country.

The investment was made following a one-year market research conducted by the Malaysian company.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, TIME CEO Afzal Abdul Rahim said his company had seen great potential in the Vietnamese market and CMC Telecom fit their development strategy. He also said that TIME would apply its experience to Viet Nam to help CMC Telecom develop significantly and compete with large competitors.

Nguyen Trung Chinh, general director of CMC Corporation, welcomed TIME as a strategic investor of CMC Telecom. "The cooperation is part of our development strategy, helping to make CMC Telecom become a leading telecom infrastructure provider in the region. It will also assists CMC Telecom to increase its management abilities, and gain modern technologies and services that would bring more value to customers in Viet Nam and regional countries," he said.

The two companies will share their experiences and support each other as they develop technologies, services, products and connect with the international telecom infrastructure to provide products to local and foreign customers.

CMC Telecom, a member company of CMC Corporation founded in 2008, provides services using 100 per cent fiber optic cable on Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Networks (GPON) and two international standardized data centers in Ha Noi and HCM City. It offers customers a wide range of services, including internet leased lines, fiber optic internet for enterprises, and internet services on Viet Nam television cable (VTVnet) for households. The firm also offers value-added services for businesses, such as video conferencing, system security and management.

Founded in 1996, TIME is a data-centric telecommunications and solutions provider in Malaysia with a business reach across Asia-Pacific. It has been listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia since 2001 and now has a capitalized value of about US$1 billion. — VNS