Vietnam incumbent awaits OK for satellite plan
HANOI - Vietnam Post and Telecommunications (VNPT) said on Monday it had
submitted to the government a plan to invest as much as $200
million in a project to put Vietnam's first-ever communications
satellite into space.
Nguyen Viet Ha, deputy director of the state-run VNPT's Satellite
Department, told Reuters the Ministry of Planning and Investment
was considering the feasibility study and VNPT hoped for an answer
by the year-end.
"We submitted it a long time ago, long enough to get their answer
by the year end," he said.
Ha said the satellite and its two control stations, which would
cost VNPT about $200 million, was part of a $500 million plan
involving several industries.
Ha said VNPT planned to put the contract out to international
tender once approved by the government, and the feasibility study
targeted completion of the project by 2004.
However, the Planning and Investment Ministry's official newspaper
quoted Do Trung Ta, president of the board of VNPT, as saying the
government had yet to decide whether to appoint a contractor or
open the project to international bidding.
"If we open the project to international bidding, we might fail to
meet the target of launching it by 2004," he told the Vietnam
Investment Review.
On the other hand, he said, appointing a contractor might mean
higher costs.
Ha said the plan to acquire a communication satellite was first
mooted in 1991 as a way to cut leasing costs. In 1995, official
media said Vietnam was hoping to get the project off the ground by
2000.
Ha declined to say why it had taken so long to get to the current
stage, but said the plan would bring big long-term savings.
"VNPT has to spend many millions of dollars every year on leasing
foreign satellites," he said.
"If the plan is approved and fully implemented, we would save a lot
of money, not only on the satellite, but also on the investment on
infrastructure to send signals to remote areas."
A Vietnamese satellite would be the country's second space foray.
In 1985, former fighter pilot Pham Tuan became Vietnam's first ever
astronaut when he joined a Soviet space mission.
Reuters - December 10, 2001.
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