SpaceX plans to invest $15 billion in Vietnam

Tim Hughes, Senior Vice President of SpaceX, the world’s leading corporation providing spacecraft, satellite launch services and satellite communications, said the corporation plans to invest 15 billion USD in Vietnam in the coming time, during a meeting with General Secretary and President To Lam in New York on September 25.

SpaceX launched its satellite internet project five years ago and now has more than 6,000 satellites in low orbit, which can provide Starlink internet service almost anywhere on Earth, Hughes said. Starlink is a project that uses satellites launched into orbit to provide global internet coverage.

General Secretary and President To Lam highly appreciated SpaceX’s investment proposal in Vietnam and expressed his hope that this would be a favorable first step to further promote cooperation between the two sides. He emphasized that Vietnam identifies digital transformation as one of the important driving forces bringing the country into a new era.

According to the General Secretary and President, the Vietnamese government is studying the group’s proposal. The Vietnamese leader asked SpaceX to discuss and coordinate closely with relevant agencies as well as domestic partners to ensure efficiency in the process of completing investment preparation procedures. The General Secretary and President hopes that SpaceX’s Starlink service will in the future support Vietnam in responding promptly and effectively to natural disasters.

Agreeing with the policy of universalizing the Internet to all Vietnamese people, Mr. Tim Hughes affirmed his desire to support Vietnam in realizing this plan and hoped to receive support from the Vietnamese government, as well as coordination from ministries and branches to be able to initiate the cooperation process.

Earlier, at a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the afternoon of September 6, SpaceX Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Global Business Tim Hughes announced that the corporation was ready to bring Starlink to Vietnam. He asked Vietnam to prepare the necessary infrastructure and conditions for the project to be effective, contributing to the coverage of the Internet to all people.

SpaceX was founded by billionaire Elon Musk. The idea of ​​deploying Starlink service in Vietnam was first raised by Mr. Tim Hughes when he met Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in New York in September 2023. At that time, SpaceX leaders expected to help provide broadband Internet service in “troughs” in the country’s signal.

Starlink satellite internet service will enter Southeast Asia from early 2023 in the Philippines and Malaysia and is expected to be available in several other countries in 2024. On the service’s website, Vietnam and Thailand are two countries that do not have a specific time or are waiting for approval.

On the same day, General Secretary and President To Lam had meetings Head of AES Energy Corporation and Pacifico Energy Corporation.

In a discussion with Mr. Juan Ignacio Rubiolo, Senior Vice President of AES Energy Corporation, the General Secretary and President welcomed and highly appreciated the effective investment and business activities of the Corporation in Vietnam in recent times. The President asked the Corporation to continue to closely coordinate with Vietnamese partners in the implementation of projects to ensure compliance with legal regulations.

According to the General Secretary and President, Vietnam is seeking solutions to balance the trade balance with the US, so it supports the import of liquefied petroleum gas to increase the import of goods from this country; at the same time, it is recommended that AES should not change its future implementation plan when the project is already included in Vietnam’s electricity planning.

With Mr. Nate Franklin, founder and Chairman of Pacifico Energy Group, General Secretary and President To Lam also highly appreciated the contributions and successful investment and business cooperation activities of Pacifico Energy in the world and in Vietnam. The General Secretary and President asked Pacifico Energy to speed up the implementation of projects in progress, and at the same time hoped that the Group would have more projects in Vietnam.

The leaders of Pacifico Energy Group assessed that Vietnam has many advantages in terms of geography and terrain to develop clean energy and committed to continue developing projects and ensuring energy for Vietnam to serve economic development. Mr. Nate Franklin affirmed that he understands Vietnam’s energy needs to realize development goals in the new period and committed to continue to coordinate with partners to effectively implement projects.