Over 150 Vietnamese students have successfully completed the Cisco Networking Academy Program

HANOI, Vietnam - October 2, 2002 - Cisco Systems has inaugurated its new premises for its representative office in Hanoi, reinforcing its commitment to Vietnam. The company also announced that 35 more Vietnamese students have completed the Cisco Networking Academy Program.

The launch of the new office, built around Cisco's New World Workplace concept, coincides with the graduation of the first batch of network-trained students from HanoiCTT Information Technology Company. HanoiCTT is a Local Cisco Networking Academy, and is also located in the same building as Cisco's new office in Le Duan.

"Two essential components for any country to compete in the Internet Economy are high-speed Internet access and a workforce trained to build, maintain and deploy the network infrastructure. Today, we demonstrate our commitment to helping the Vietnamese Government achieve both goals," said Gordon Astles, President for Asia Pacific, Cisco Systems.

With offices in both Hanoi and Hochihminh City, Cisco is well positioned to help the government, service providers and other organizations in the country to realize the cost and productivity benefits of the Internet. These include leading-edge networking solutions such as IP-VPNs, IP Telephony, Voice over IP, and Wireless LAN.

And in close collaboration with SaigonCTT, the Regional Cisco Networking Academy based in Hochihminh City, and HanoiCTT, Cisco is helping to transfer the Internet and networking knowledge to the youths of Vietnam. To date, over 150 Vietnamese have completed the Networking Academy program with another 1,000 currently enrolled.

"The Cisco Networking Academy program has been very well received by the young generation of Vietnamese. The excellent results earned by most of the students demonstrate their thirst for knowledge and their willingness to master advanced technologies. They have overcome constraints such as the English language, and embraced the new model of e-learning and hands-on laboratory sessions with tremendous enthusiasm," said Hoang Anh Tuan, Director of the Local Cisco Networking Academy in HanoiCTT.

The Cisco Networking Academy program is a partnership between Cisco Systems, education, business, government, and community organizations around the world. The program has over 265,000 students enrolled in more than 10,000 academies in 148 countries around the world. In the Asia Pacific region, there are over 40,000 students enrolled in 954 academies in 23 countries. Over 21,000 students from around the region have already completed the program and are either pursuing more advanced networking courses or out in the workforce.

The objective of the New World Workplace (NWW) office concept is to create a flexible, productive work environment. The effective use of state-of-the-art technology for work enhances anywhere, anytime work choices, reiterating Cisco's position as not only the leading provider of Internet technologies but also as the leading adopter of innovative New World solutions.

Cisco's NWW strategy provides for a wide variety of workspaces for use for mobile and visiting staff, namely just-in-time offices, unassigned workstations, quiet rooms, collaboration areas and touchdowns. Cisco's NWW strategy has been implemented in over 80 offices across the globe, and aims to provide the same flexible, scalable, productive, and innovative workplaces in Hanoi. The new office will also be a showcase of Cisco's technologies with employees utilizing Cisco IP Phones and Cisco Aironet wireless networking solutions.

About HanoiCTT Information Technology Company

HanoiCTT Information Technology Company was established in October 2001 and is an organization of training and technology transfer. After SaigonCTT, HanoiCTT is the second Cisco Networking Academy in Vietnam. For more information, please visit www.hanoictt.com.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Cisco news and information are available at www.cisco.com.

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