SpaceX to launch 100 per cent foreign-invested business in Vietnam

SpaceX to launch 100 per cent foreign-invested business in Vietnam

SpaceX is completing procedures to establish a 100 per cent foreign-invested business in Vietnam.

At the press meeting on June 27, Nguyen Anh Cuong, deputy general director of the Vietnam Telecommunications Authority under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), said that SpaceX Corporation, the owner of the Starlink system, is completing the procedures with the Ministry of Finance.

"According to regulations, service licensing does not take more than 15 days," he shared. “After completing the business registration, SpaceX can apply for a licence to provide low-orbit satellite services.”

Nguyen Anh Cuong, deputy general director of Vietnam Telecommunications Authority. Photo: MoST

A resolution issued in February by the National Assembly aims to create breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation. It stipulates a controlled pilot of investment in satellite telecommunications networks using low-orbit satellite technology on the principle of ensuring national defence and security, with no limit on the percentage of the shares owned, capital contributions, or contribution ratios of foreign investors.

The prime minister signed off on the resolution in March, and the government five articles in April focusing on procedures and conditions for licensing and operating low-orbit satellite services.

SpaceX has made strong moves in Vietnam. In June, it sent a delegation led by Andrew Matlock, director of enterprise sales, to Vietnam to meet with the Ministry of Health to discuss cooperation opportunities.

At a meeting with the Ministry of Industry and Trade on May 20, SpaceX said that the company will invest about $1.5 billion to provide broadband internet connections in Vietnam, especially in remote, border, and island areas. In the first phase, it is expected to build 10-15 ground stations in the country.

VIR