In 1994, as Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Dang Huu was influential in persuading the Party and State leadership to allow to launch the Internet in Vietnam.

“Being one with real need for information and wanting to use the Internet, I sought to persuade the Party and Government to open it,” Huu said.

“Those who actively joined me included Phan Dinh Dieu, Nguyen Dinh Ngoc, Chu Hao and Mai Liem Truc. We recognized that without the Internet it was very difficult to work, because we had to contact overseas, while using telephone or fax was too expensive. 

Moreover, there was a need to find information for research. Since there was no official Internet, we had to use underground means to connect outside. The more we used the Internet, the more we saw it was indispensable. We even referred to the concept of a knowledge-based economy, and without the Internet, you can’t have a knowledge-based economy.”

In the economic sphere, as early as 1996 (before Vietnam officially allowed the Internet), Hoang Anh Gia Lai enterprise hired two engineers and bought two computers, and daily used the Internet to search for market and trade information for wood products. 

Huu noted that technically, Vietnam could have opened the Internet sooner, but concerns about security meant the decision had to be made cautiously.

Tran Ba Thai, former Director of NetNam, recognized as one of the top three contributors to bringing the internet to Vietnam, recounted that in 1992, he connected with a research group at the Australian National University. 

The first trial email was sent to an Australian contacted only by phone. Interestingly, the early adopters of email in Vietnam were from social science and international relations backgrounds, not natural sciences. 

Early testers included Prof. Phan Huy Le (in history), Prof. Vo Quy (in biology), the Vietnam Agent Orange Committee, and the Biology Department of Hanoi University.

At that time, installing an additional phone or modem without permission from the Post Office could result in a fine. Professor Phan Huy Le was fined for installing a modem without authorization.

The question before the ‘go time’

Convincing internal stakeholders before the decision to open the internet in 1997 was fraught with difficulties due to conflicting opinions. 

There were significant concerns about negative aspects, such as fears of leaking secrets or some individuals using the internet to distort the regime. Even when the Government decided to open the internet, the approach was cautious, learning from experience as it progressed. 

The Temporary Regulations on the Management, Establishment, and Use of the Internet in Vietnam, attached to the Decree of March 21, 1997, even stipulated: "Computer information networks and databases of Party, Government, Security, and Defense agencies must not be connected to the internet."

Mai Liem Truc, former Director General of the General Department of Posts, voted by the media as the greatest contributor to opening the internet in Vietnam, recalled: “At that time, there were opposing views to bringing in the Internet, though not many. But there were serious concerns even at high leadership levels. 

Everyone thought the Internet would come to Vietnam, only the timing was debated. The question was whether we would miss another opportunity. We sensed the Internet was inevitable, but at risk of delay or heavy constraints that would slow its development. That’s why we pushed to open as early as possible, even if we had to temporarily accept directives we disagreed with or felt frustrated about, just to get the Internet in and then negotiate later.”

He recounted: “In the final hours, when persuading the topmost levels, the Politburo Standing Committee and the PM, a question was raised whether we could block all harmful information from the internet and prevent it. 

We, including me, Director General of the Postal Authority, Khanh Toan (Deputy Minister of Public Security), and Chu Hao (Deputy Minister of Science and Technology), made a presentation at a meeting with the Standing Politburo. 

Khanh Toan said regulations were very strict. The then Party Chief Le Kha Phieu asked whether it would work in reality. I stood up and reported that we had regulations and joint circulars between ministries like the General Department of Posts, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Culture and Information, but in practice, due to technical limitations, it was impossible to block everything. 

However, we would minimize harmful internet content to the lowest level. Afterward, the Standing Committee of the Politburo agreed to open the internet, and we went to persuade the Government. All four of us visited the private home of the late Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, who approved. But as we left, he patted my shoulder and said: 'You guys do what you must, but if we have to shut it down later, I don’t know how we’ll explain it to the world’.”

Thai Khang