The agreement was announced in Stockholm Tuesday, on the occasion of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s official visit to Sweden.

Under the agreement, Ericsson will provide new digital services to VNPT consumers, individuals and enterprises, and support e-government initiatives.

The partnership will also expand VNPT’s internet of things (IoT) capabilities across its network.

"By providing our 4G IoT capabilities as well as leveraging our recently launched ‘IoT Innovation Hub’ in Vietnam, we are looking to fuel and drive the IoT ecosystem in Vietnam and create momentum towards 5G," said Denis Brunetti, head of Ericsson Vietnam and Myanmar.

He was referring to an innovation hub that was launched in Hanoi last month by Ericsson and the Ministry of Science and Technology to support start-ups and promote entrepreneurship.

VNPT Group is a major communications service provider in Vietnam. Last year, it earned profits of over VND6.4 trillion ($273 million), up 25 percent from 2017.