The Vietnamese Ministry of Defense on Tuesday appointed Soviet-trained Major General Le Dang Dung as standing Chairman and General Director of military-run Viettel Telecom Corporation (Viettel). Dung will replace Major General Nguyen Manh Hung, who was on July 25 appointed standing Minister of Information and Communications.
Former Information Minister Truong Minh Tuan was stripped of the position due to his involvement in Mobifone’s purchase of TV pay service provider AVG against the law.
Joining Viettel in 1996, Le Dang Dung had been a deputy general director at Vietnam’s largest telecommunication group by revenue and subscribers, for 16 years. He has also chaired Viettel Global, the overseas investment arm of the group, since 2016, Viettel said in a press release sent to Hanoitimes.
Under his steering wheel, Viettel Global earned revenue of US$1.25 billion in 2017, coming the first and sole Vietnamese firm to reach that threshold. It repatriated US$233 million last year, rising 31% year-on-year.
Viettel has invested in 10 overseas markets so far, among which the company takes the lion’s share in five and makes a profit in eight, the company said.
Dung studied electric engineering in Russia between 1977 and 1983 and from 1988 to 1990. He joined a three-year course in the University of South Australia in 1993-1996.