A Russian made search, news and advertising portal named Wada will be launched in Vietnam in a matter of weeks. It has been developed by Ashmanov & Partners, a leading Moscow web agency, in association with the Russian financial group Finam and Kazakhstani real estate developer Kusto.
Although the initial investment in the Wada project has amounted to $1.5 million so far, the total investment could reach up to $20 million, Russian business daily Vedomosti quoted Igor Ashmanov as saying earlier this week.
According to local research firm Cimigo, Internet penetration in Vietnam reached 31% at the end of 2010. The Vietnamese Internet market is growing faster than almost anywhere else in the world, according Cimigo.
Southeast Asia appears to be a popular destination for businessmen from the former Soviet Union. Ashmanov already runs an advertising network called Yengo in Thailand. He said that Burma, Laos, Malaysia, and Indonesia could be his next targets after the launch of Wada in Vietnam, reported Vedomosti.
Kusto has a social network in Vietnam, as well as an online discount service and a payment terminal network.
In March of this year, Nigma.ru, a minor player on the Russian Internet search market, announced it had plans to make a Vietnamese version of its service under the domain name Itim.vn, meaning “I seek” in Vietnamese. As of this publication, the site is still in test mode.
In September major Russian fund Ru-Net participated in a $60 million round of financing along with German based Rebate Networks and other local players to develop e-commerce in Vietnam.
Leading Russian mobile operator and telecom group Vimpelcom is also actively developing its presence in the region.
