President praises Viettel's contributions in Cambodia

On the afternoon of July 13, President To Lam visited and worked at Metfone - Viettel's brand in Cambodia - within the framework of his state visit to Cambodia. Metfone is a pioneer in digital infrastructure and digital transformation, and is also the enterprise that contributes the largest budget to the Royal Government of Cambodia. Accompanying President To Lam were Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Do Van Chien; Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang; Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics Nguyen Xuan Thang; Vice President of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh; Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son; Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang; Head of the Office of the President Le Khanh Hai; Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc and other Party and State leaders. Viettel representatives welcoming the President were Chairman - General Director of the Group Tao Duc Thang, General Director of Viettel Global Phung Van Cuong, General Director of Metfone Cao Manh Duc and all Metfone employees in Cambodia. After listening to the reports from Viettel and Metfone, President To Lam assessed: “Metfone's results have made a very important contribution to developing cooperative relations with Cambodia, solving many problems that Cambodia is currently facing. Cambodia's difficulties have been met such as taxes, social security, job creation, communications, especially digital transformation, serving the new stage of economic development. At the same time, it also greatly contributed to the defense and security issues of Cambodia”. Viettel invested in Cambodia in 2006 under the Metfone brand. After 15 years of business, Metfone brought mobile waves and the Internet to all provinces and cities and made Cambodia a country with the best 4G coverage in the region. With the widest network, Metfone leads the market with 9 million mobile subscribers and 430,000 fixed broadband subscribers. Metfone has signed cooperation agreements with most ministries in the Cambodian Government on digital transformation solutions, including particularly important projects with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health. Metfone's SIS digital education ecosystem helps hundreds of thousands of teachers and students benefit from online learning materials and school management solutions. The PACS digital health data management and digitization system helps patients and hospitals store and access medical records and past diagnostic images, avoiding loss or interruption when patients visit different medical facilities. Metfone's E-money e-wallet has more than 3 million subscribers, helping people access financial services and make payments, pay tuition fees, pay salaries, and transfer money, especially in areas without banks. Since its establishment, Metfone has contributed 1.05 billion USD to the budget, making it one of the largest budget contributors to the Royal Government of Cambodia. Metfone has created 33,000 high-income jobs and carried out social activities such as free Internet for schools, supporting the Cambodian Ministry of Health with equipment and technology, sponsoring the Cambodian Red Cross, sponsoring the Heart for Children program, the program to search for lost relatives after the war, and being the main sponsor for the Cambodian National Football Championship. By the end of 2023, the total value of Metfone's sponsorship for charity work and social projects was 120 million USD. In early 2024, Metfone was awarded the noble Royal Monisaraphon Medal, Moha Sereyvath rank, by the King of Cambodia, a special recognition by the Cambodian Royal Family for its contributions to the digital transformation process in the land of pagodas, contributing to economic cooperation and friendship between the two countries and two peoples. President To Lam commented: “If any Vietnamese enterprise invests abroad like Viettel, like Metfone’s model, then there is nothing to worry about. For Cambodia, if any enterprise brings benefits like this, then there is no reason not to encourage it. Metfone’s results have enhanced the image and position of Vietnam, not just in economic and business matters. We highly appreciate and commend the contributions of Viettel and Metfone in Cambodia”. Chairman and General Director of Viettel Group Tao Duc Thang affirmed: “Over the past 15 years, Viettel’s investment in Cambodia has not been purely business. That journey demonstrates the close relationship between the two countries and peoples from politics, culture to national security and defense. Viettel is always aware of sustainable development in the countries we invest in”. Metfone General Director Cao Manh Duc said at the meeting: “In the coming time, Metfone hopes to deploy important digital infrastructures such as 5G and cloud computing to accelerate the national digital transformation process in Cambodia and continue to participate in major problems of Cambodian society such as smart cities, remote medical examination and treatment, and smart education”. Source: https://viettel.com.vn/vi/tin-tuc-va-su-kien/tin-tuc/chu-tich-nuoc-bieu-duong-dong-gop-cua-viettel-tai-camuchia/