The company said that the Vinbus Transport Service Co. will operate under a non-profit model, aiming to develop a modern public transportation system that reduces pollution and noise in Vietnam’s major cities.

The company will exclusively produce and run electric buses, it said.

VinBus has a charter capital of VND1 trillion ($42.88 million), and expects to start running bus routes in 5 major cities: Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho.

In the short term, the company plans to operate 3,000 electric buses made by VinFast.

At present, the VinFast bus factory is still under construction. German industrial manufacturing giant Siemens has agreed to provide the technology and components to build electric buses here.

Establishing VinBus is the next latest move by Vingroup, Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate, implementing what it says is a strategy of developing environmentally friendly electric vehicles.

"Ever since joining the automobile-motorcycle manufacturing industry, we have been determined to develop and popularize environmentally friendly electric cars, to gradually replace gasoline vehicles," said Nguyen Viet Quang, vice president of Vingroup.

"Participating in public transport with our smart electric buses is a very important step, moving us forward in applying advanced technology as well as creating a fresh and modern urban environment," he said.

In other areas, Vingroup’s smartphone production arm Vinsmart has begun selling four smartphone models to Spanish consumers via MediaMarkt stores from March 20, 2019.

The group’s VinTech has opened its first office in South Korea this April to research the application of the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and artificial intelligence.