Vietnam Post And Telecoms To Separate On Aug 15

The long-awaited split of the post and telecommunication services will be carried out in 61 provinces and cities nationwide on Aug. 15, according to the Postal Information Centre.
This is the first step in preparation for the establishment of the post corporation and the telecommunications corporation, and the forming of a State conglomerate of post companies and telecommunications companies.
The postal sector, with a staff accounting for 49 per cent of the country’s post and telecommunications service, has revenues representing only 5-7 per cent of the service’s turnover. Consequently, the telecommunications sector has to compensate for the losses in the postal sector, and the international services follow suit for the domestic services. In this situation, both the postal and the telecommunications sectors cannot expand and improve their services.
Since October 2001, the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Corporation has split, on an experimental basis, the postal services from the telecommunication services in 10 provinces. The test showed that the postal sector operated more effectively with revenues representing 18-30 per cent of the total group’s turnover.
This separation of the post and telecommunications services enjoys the State’s financial support in the form of preferential tax rates as well as investment in a number of services for social welfare.