RPT-Motorola CEO says eyes business expansion in Vietnam http://today.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-06-09T081648Z_01_HAN59337_RTRIDST_0_TELECOMS-VIETNAM-MOTOROLA-REPEATED.XML&rpc=66
Fri Jun 9, 2006
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HANOI, June 9 (Reuters) - U.S. firm Motorola Inc. (MOT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to expand its handset and telecommunication infrastructure development business in Vietnam, the company's chief executive said on Friday.
The world's second-largest handset maker said it was seeking to improve the country's next generation of broadband and wireless mobile infrastructure as well as strengthen its foothold in the domestic handset market.
"Motorola sees tremendous opportunity in Vietnam as it continues to record impressive economic growth and prepares to enter the World Trade Organisation," Motorola CEO Ed Zander told reporters after meeting with Vietnamese government officials in Hanoi.
"We strongly believe that deregulation in Vietnam's telecommunications industry will further drive growth in the industry," Zander said, adding the firm was looking for further investment in the Southeast Asian country. The company, which has been in Vietnam for 12 years, commanded a 22 percent market share for handsets last year, versus 18 percent in 2004, Motorola officials said.
The communist-run country is one of the fastest-growing markets for mobile handsets, where the number of mobile phone users has more than tripled to 11 million by April 2006 from 2.7 million in 2003.
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