Vietnam is planning to sell smartphones costing just 500,000 VND (20 USD) under a smartphone universalisation programme, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said.

This is the first time Vietnam has a smart phone universalisation programme
(Photo: baophapluat.vn) 

Speaking at a meeting of the Ministry of Information and Communications for the first quarter, the minister noted that this year would be the year of universalisation of smartphones.

A Vietnamese smartphone will cost 45-50 USD to produce. However, with support from mobile operators and application developers, a smartphone can be sold for 20 USD.

Minister Hung emphasised that this year would be the year of national digital transformation, witnessing the development of Vietnamese digital technology enterprises and cybersecurity ecosystem.

Cybersecurity products would be Made-in-Vietnam, he said.

The Ministry of Information and Communications will take strong actions to require cross-border platforms doing business in Vietnam to comply with Vietnamese laws, he noted.

In particular, the minister said that the country will host the ITU Digital World 2020 for the first time in this year. This is the largest telecom event ever, with about 130-150 countries attending.