Vodafone's Vietnamese plans run into trouble

NO SOONER had Vodafone expressed an interest in moving into the Vietnamese mobile comms sector than its government has started to back-peddle over selling off stakes.

Vietnamese prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, has told officials to “re-examine the equitisation of state-run enterprises.”

Observers say that this edict almost certainly covers Mobifone, a mobile operator in which Vodafone is thought to have an interest.

The decision follows the cock-up of an IPO for a state-run insurance company. The Vietnamese appear committed to sell-offs but want to ensure they get full value for any released stakes.

It looks unlikely, therefore, that Vodafone will be able to buy a chunk of Vietnamese telecoms in 2007.

Better try elsewhere, then. There's always Brazil which recently overtook Japan to become the world's fifth largest mobile telecoms market. µ

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