Vietnam says SpaceX’s Starlink plans US$15 billion investment

SPACEX is proposing to invest US$15 billion in Vietnam tied to its Starlink satellite service in the near future, the South-east Asian country’s government said, citing a meeting between the company’s senior vice-president Tim Hughes and the Communist Party’s General Secretary To Lam.

Lam, who was visiting the US to attend the United Nations General Assembly, said the Vietnam government is reviewing the proposal, according to a statement on the website of the country’s National Assembly.

No further details were provided. SpaceX did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment after normal US working hours. Government officials in Vietnam were not immediately available for comment.

Vietnam’s government said last year that SpaceX was interested in providing the country with its low-Earth orbit satellite service. Earlier this year, Reuters reported that those plans were put on hold.

According to the Vietnamese statement, Lam told Elon Musk’s Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX that uses thousands of satellites to provide web access, the nation will coordinate with domestic partners to complete investment procedures, it said.

Lam, who met with US President Joe Biden, also held meetings with major companies, including Boeing and Meta Platforms.

According to the government statement, Karan Bhatia, Google’s vice-president for government affairs and public policy, told Lam the Silicon Valley company expects to work with Vietnam to develop AI technology, cloud computing and increasing collaboration cybersecurity. BLOOMBERG