Military-run telecom group Viettel has appointed a new general director to replace Lieutenant General Hoang Anh Xuan who has retired.

Accordingly, Major-General Nguyen Manh Hung has been promoted from deputy general director to general director of the army-run telecom group, according to Viettel. Hung will officially hold the post next month.

Earlier, at the hall of the Ministry of Defense, General Phung Quang Thanh - Minister of Defense made the decision to appoint Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung as the new general director of Viettel  on behalf of the Central Military Commission.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, born in 1962, graduated in Electronics and Telecommunications in Russia. He then obtained a master's degree in telecommunications in Australia and another master's degree in business administration from the National Economics University in Hanoi.

Mr. Hung is one of the first officials dispatched by the Ministry of Defense to work for Viettel from the founding day in 1989. He held the position of deputy director of the Military Telecom Co from June 2000 and deputy general director of Viettel Group from January 2010 to date.

In addition to the position of deputy general director of Viettel, he also concurrently holds leadership positions in many companies that Viettel has already invested in, including vice chairman of the Military Bank, board member of Vinaconex, board member of Viettel Global, board member of Vinaconex - Viettel Finance, and chairman of Viettel - CHT Venture.

Mr. Hung was promoted to the rank of Major General in 2012, the 3rd leaders of Viettel having been promoted to the General rank after Lieutenant General Hoang Anh Xuan and Major General Duong Van Tinh.

High expectations

Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung is highly praised among the local technology and business communities regarding his ability in management and strategic planning.

As a result, the appointment of Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung was seen as a move to keep Viettel's growth in the context that Vietnam's telecom market has entered a period of saturation, the OTT service revenues are eroding traditional telecommunications, and the investment in overseas markets has also become more difficult.

Viettel Group's total revenue in 2013 was about VND162.88 trillion (US$7.65 billion), up 15.2% compared with 2012. It paid nearly VND17.5 trillion to the state budget, an increase of 19.4 % compared with 2012.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, Viettel Group continued to hold the no. 1 position in terms of revenue and numbers of active subscribers in the local telecommunications sector in 2013.

Viettel earned VND44 trillion more than Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) in terms of total revenue in 2013.

Under the direction of 2014 and the next year, Viettel has also identified the important strategic shift under the new general director, including the transition from mobile to mobile broadband, from a service company to one focusing on research and production of high-tech devices, and from a local firm to a multinational company.

Accordingly, Viettel has set a 12-15 % growth target in 2014 .

A number of telecommunications projects by Viettel have been deployed in 9 overseas markets in the past few years, including Cameroon, Mozambique, and Haiti. They also achieved great success in neighboring markets such as Cambodia and Laos.