Viettel, whose brand value grew by 35.8 per cent over last year to more than US$4.3 billion, was honoured as one of the 500 most valuable brands in the world 2019.

The list released by Brand Finance - a UK-based brand evaluation company on Tuesday showed the Vietnamese telecom brand took 478th position, its first time on the list.

Viet Nam’s leading telecom provider was highly valued due to its presence in 10 foreign markets.

David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance said Brand Finance implements the assessment on about 5,000 brands worldwide every year in 40 different sectors with criteria of turnover and brand strength.

The list this year featured big names in different industries of telecommunications, technology, automobile and petroleum such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Mercedes-Benz, Shell and Telstra.

Of the total 5,000 firms reviewed by Brand Value, there were some 500 ones in Southeast Asia. Only eight brands in ASEAN region were listed in the ranking in telecommunications, petroleum and banking.

Brand value was considered as the economic benefits a business achieves after officially coming into operation.

Brand Finance last month also announced the list of top 50 most valuable brands in Viet Nam 2018.

Viettel was the leading brand in the country with value of more than $3.1 billion, posting 23.7 per cent year-on-year increase and equal to the total value of the second and third placed firms on the list.

Last year, a successful year for Viettel as revenue from its overseas market grew by 20 per cent. The number of its subscribers was up 70 per cent from the previous year, bringing $240 million revenue to Viet Nam, increasing 3 per cent from 2017.

Brand Finance is one of the world’s leading brand valuation firms. Its results are often used by leading media channels such as BBC, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, The Economist and The Wall Street Journal. — VNS