As a key state-owned economic group, Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) has an important position and role in the cause of building and protecting the Fatherland. Therefore, along with fulfilling the mission of a leading enterprise in the field of telecommunications and (IT), the Group constantly strives to perform well the tasks of national defence and security, with many synchronous and appropriate solutions.

VNPT, established under Decision No. 06/2006/QD-TTg, dated 9 January 2006 of the Prime Minister, is a single-member limited liability company with 100% charter capital held by the State; a multi-sectoral company with specific activities which plays an important position and role in the cause of building and protecting the Fatherland. Therefore, linking economic development with national defence tasks is an issue of utmost importance to the Group in both immediate and long terms.

Deeply aware of assigned political tasks, officers and employees of the entire Group always engrave Uncle Ho's teachings on the communications industry, ensuring the “lifeblood” of communications of the Party and State always clear in both wartime and peacetime. As the country's main telecommunications and information technology (IT) unit, the Group has been demonstrating its responsibility in the task of protecting national security with the power of technology. The Group has its own specific characteristic, which is the nationwide production and business areas, including mountainous, border, coastal, and island areas - places with strategic significance in defence, security, and homeland protection. Therefore, along with promoting production and business development, the Group's Party Committee and Board of Members have strengthened leadership and direction of affiliated agencies and units to synchronously deploy solutions to improve the quality and efficiency of national defence work, and have achieved quite comprehensive results. That is clearly shown in the constantly improving awareness, consciousness, and responsibility of officials and employees regarding national defence and homeland protection tasks; Production and business development associated with strengthening national defence and security are given importance; The system of leadership and command that operates the defence work from the Group's agencies to grassroots units is regularly focused on building, consolidating, perfecting, and successfully completing assigned responsibilities and tasks. The self-defence force is built to be strong, widespread, and of high quality; The reserve force is carefully built and staffed in accordance with the characteristics of the production and business situation, ensuring readiness for mobilisation in all situations. To date, the Group's self-defence force staff has reached over 4,000 officers and soldiers, the party membership rate has reached 47%; The reserve force has about 15,000 comrades, along with more than 300,000 vehicles, equipments and supplies of all kinds, allowing successful completion of the task of protecting businesses and participating in coordinating national defence tasks, maintaining security and order in the area when situations arise.

VNPT ensures communications for fishermen with Vinaphone-S system

Currently, along with the trend of convergence of telecommunications, IT, Big Data, and Internet of Things (IoT), according to the strategic orientation of VNPT 4.0, the Group is shifting from a traditional service provider to a “digital communications service provider”. With the vision of becoming a leading provider of digital infrastructure and services in Vietnam by 2025 and becoming a Digital Hub of the Asian region by 2030, with the same mission of providing customers and partners quality, groundbreaking and innovative telecommunications products and services, IT, media and digital services, etc. the Group has thorough and solid preparation in terms of infrastructure and human resources, in order to provide quality services to tens of millions of customers who are Party and State agencies, local authorities, business partners and people. This is also one of the necessary conditions to build national digital infrastructure, the foundation to ensure the country's defence and security. To do that, the Party Committee and the Group's Board of Members focus on leading and directing the comprehensive and synchronous implementation of all aspects of work, successfully implementing all tasks. In particular, national defence work has identified a number of main contents and solutions as follows:

Firstly, strengthening propaganda and education to raise awareness, consciousness and responsibility of officials and employees regarding national defence and homeland protection tasks. On the basis of deeply grasping the Party's policies and guidelines, the State's policies and laws on defence and military tasks, the Group strengthens propaganda and education work for officials and employees to firmly grasp the meaning, importance and necessity of performing national defence tasks and protecting the Fatherland in the new situation. Comprehensive educational content focuses on resolutions and directives of the Party, State, Government, and Ministry of National Defence on defence work, especially the Resolution of the 8th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (13^th tenure) on Strategy for Fatherland protection in the new situation, Vietnam Military Strategy, Vietnam National Defence Strategy; National Defence Law 2018, Decree No. 168/2018/ND-CP, dated 28 December 2018 of the Government on national defence work in ministries, central branches, localities, etc. Along with that, the Group directs agencies and units to promote education and foster defence and security knowledge for subjects, in order to foster communist ideals, moral qualities, and national history and tradition of fighting foreign invaders; updating knowledge, skills, and new content on defence and security so that everyone can clearly understand and perform this work well at agencies, units, and businesses. During the implementation, the Group's Military Command actively coordinated with functional agencies of the Ministry of National Defence and local military agencies to review and strictly manage the number of cadres and party members subject to the programmes of fostering national defence and security knowledge, to develop training plans according to regulations, ensuring quality, not leaving out any subject. Thereby, changing the awareness, consciousness, and responsibility of officials and employees towards the task of national defence and protecting the Fatherland.

Holding defence and security courses for the Group's employees

Second, developing production and business associated with strengthening national defence and security. Based on modern digital infrastructure and as a key digital technology enterprise in national digital transformation, mastering many core technologies... the Group promotes the development and provision of digital technology ecosystems in all areas of economic, cultural and social life, including the goal of using the power of technology to improve the protection of national defence and security. With the orientation of becoming a national pillar technology group, the Group continues to accelerate comprehensive digital transformation of all professional processes, masters core 4.0 technologies and expands the digital ecosystem for the Government, businesses and people. Currently, the Group has modern, synchronous telecommunications and digital infrastructure with broadband coverage throughout the country; land-based fiber optic cable system, international marine fiber optic cable, directly connecting to more than 240 countries and territories around the world. All to meet the highest requirements for national information security as well as to satisfy the diverse needs of customers, contributing to asserting territorial sovereignty on land, airspace and sea. The management, operation and provision of satellite information services through Vinasat 1 and Vinasat 2, Vietnam's first two telecommunications satellites, affirms the sovereignty of the State over satellite orbital resources, completing the national information network, meeting the domestic and international satellite information needs of ministries, branches and units throughout the country. Thereby, well serving the activities of the Government, national defence, security and ensuring information security and safety, having a positive impact on political and social life, meeting the needs for fast, reliable and especially effective telecommunications services for places with difficult terrain, remote areas, borders and islands.

The Group focuses on programmes to cover sea, island, high altitudes areas, and remove mobile black spots, not only providing widespread mobile coverage, but also bringing the Internet to remote, border, and island areas, effectively serving the work of ensuring national defence and national security. The Group's telecommunications network capacity not only meets the needs of the people but also always ensures smooth and timely service for the direction and administration of the Party, State, Government, ministries, departments, and agencies at all times, ensuring communication and information security for important events of the country, contributing to promoting economic, cultural, social development and strengthening national defence and security of the country.

Third, promoting the core role of military agencies and self-defence forces, reserve mobilisation at all levels in carrying out national defence work. To improve the quality of military agencies, as well as self-defence and reserve forces, the Group directs affiliated agencies and units to regularly strengthen the military command and staff who are in charge of national defence work, the self-defence forces, as well as the reserve forces at all levels. This work aims to ensure sufficient quantity, high quality, reasonable structure, suitable to production and business conditions, capable of leading, directing, advising and organising the implementation of military and defence tasks in the new situation. Military commands at all levels actively advise leaders of their agencies and units to promulgate documents, resolutions, directives, programmes, plans, lead, direct and guide on the implementation of national defence work in accordance with the practical situation. At the same time, proactively coordinate closely with the Military force, Public security, and relevant units in understanding the local situation, strictly maintaining combat readiness and response to disaster, epidemics, prevention and control of fires, explosions, forest fires, search and rescue; Combine training with competitions, sports festivals, drills, and maintaining order and social safety in defence areas. Regularly coordinate to organise combat drills to protect agencies and units, have plans to mobilise forces and means to participate in drills for provincial and district defence areas and carry out tasks of military and national defence when necessary.

In order for the self-defence and reserve forces to operate effectively and be able to complete assigned tasks, the Group proactively balances the funding to ensure on-site logistics, resources mobilisation for national defence work, and activities of self-defence forces and reserve forces according to the provisions of law; organise the procurement of self-defence clothing, security guards, equipment, and support tools to ensure necessary conditions for self-defence and reserve forces to promote their core role in patrolling and guarding. Maintain security and order, protect the safety of agencies and businesses. Military commands at all levels focus on building the Group's self-defence and reserve forces to continuously grow, making an important contribution to implementing the overall strategy of socio-economic development and strengthening national defence and security, building a comprehensive strong base, meeting the requirements and tasks of protecting the Fatherland in all situations.

NGUYEN NAM LONG, Deputy General Director, Commander of the Group's Military Command