Breakthrough policy to popularize national domain name “.vn”

The 30-year journey of the national domain name “.vn” has brought about many positive results, helping Vietnam to be proactive in the process of international economic integration as well as contributing to socio-economic development.

Vietnam Internet Network Information Center (VNNIC) officially provides the national domain name “.vn”.

In the year focusing on developing the digital economy and digital society in 2024, the program to popularize the national domain name “.vn” recently activated by the Ministry of Information and Communications will bring unprecedented opportunities for rapid online presence for young people, individual business households, and small and medium enterprises.

After 30 years of development, Vietnam has more than 610 thousand national domain names “.vn”, ranking second in ASEAN, 10th in Asia-Pacific and 40th in the world . However, the rate of businesses registering to use the domain name “.vn” is only about 25%, while this rate in developed countries is more than 70%.

Establish a digital presence

The Internet has created a digital environment and each individual, organization, and business has been and is establishing its online presence in this environment. Registering a domain name associated with an individual, organization, or business is the first step to establishing an online presence.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung affirmed that the transformation of the business model from traditional to online business is an inevitable trend. In particular, the presence on the internet with the Vietnamese national domain name “.vn” is the key to helping domestic enterprises and business households build brands for products and services and develop online business in a professional, sustainable and trustworthy manner. Not only that, using the national domain name “.vn” also contributes to building and protecting national digital sovereignty in cyberspace.

Director of Vietnam Internet Network Information Center (VNNIC) (Ministry of Information and Communications) Nguyen Hong Thang said: According to a recent survey, more than 85% of Vietnamese internet users surveyed rated websites with the domain name “.vn” as being more trustworthy than international domain names. The national domain name “.vn” has become an important indicator of the prestige and trustworthiness of a website, enhancing the value of brand recognition for internet users in Vietnam.

To popularize the national domain name “.vn”, on May 21, the Ministry of Information and Communications launched the Program to promote and support people, businesses, and business households to have a reliable and safe online presence with digital services using the national domain name “.vn” in provinces and cities across the country in the period of 2024-2025; including many breakthrough policies to implement the initiative to popularize the national domain name “.vn”.

Specifically, VNNIC will provide free two years of “.vn” domain names and basic digital services such as website setup and email for newly established businesses within one year and for individual business households. This policy aims to encourage small and medium enterprises and individual business households to quickly establish their online presence in the digital environment, conduct business in the digital environment, and develop the digital economy.

In addition, VNNIC also provides free two-year domain name “.id.vn” and basic digital services such as setting up a website, online diary, job application profile, email for people aged 18-23. This policy aims to encourage the young generation to quickly establish their online presence in the digital environment and develop a digital society.

Guaranteed reliability

Dong Thap is the first locality in the country to coordinate with VNNIC to implement an effective online business model conversion program with digital services using national domain names. Immediately after that, many provinces such as Vinh Long, Hau Giang, Lam Dong,... also simultaneously implemented programs to bring Vietnamese agricultural brands and local specialties to websites with the domain name ".vn".

The owner of Loc Thinh Phat agricultural processing facility (Tan Thuan Tay commune, Cao Lanh city) Tran Van Thau said: Previously, the business of local specialty dried mango could only serve local people and tourists. When he learned that Dong Thap supported the registration of the national domain name “.vn”, Mr. Thau decided to participate immediately to put information and product origin on the internet, helping people across the country know and trust the brand of his locality at the website https://locthinhphat.vn/. Although not familiar with technology, Mr. Thau and many other brand owners still chose the domain name “.vn” for their website because of its “familiarity” and reliability.

From another perspective, General Secretary of the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM) Tran Van Trong said: Along with the strong development of e-commerce in recent years, the situation of counterfeit, poor quality and smuggled goods is also rampant, which is a problem that greatly affects consumers, causing both budget losses and negative impacts on the brands of businesses. In fact, there are currently many websites with domain names registered under international domain extensions such as ".xyz", ".online",... and have similar or identical character strings to the website names of domestic businesses to deceive consumers because they are easily confused with websites providing official products and services.

“Businesses need to be aware that protecting their brands will help reduce counterfeit, fake and poor quality goods trading activities in e-commerce. The national domain name “.vn” has the advantage of authenticating the subject’s information when registering a domain name because individuals and organizations must use documents proving their identity matches the registration information. In addition, activities to check and review domain name registration and usage activities also take place regularly, helping to prevent bad behavior as soon as there are signs of violations. Therefore, in terms of brand recognition, the domain name “.vn” is truly a digital resource that builds trust in e-commerce,” Mr. Trong assessed.

Talking about the topic of digital capacity building for Vietnamese youth, Director of NextJobs Job Portal Lieu Hung Tien commented: The combination of digital capacity building and the national domain name “.id.vn” is not only a unique initiative but also demonstrates the aspiration of building a comprehensive information society. As part of the digital identification system, the domain name “.id.vn” helps to strengthen national identity in the digital space, while creating conditions for youth to access, interact and develop in a safe and effective digital environment.

As for NextJobs, by bringing the domain name “.id.vn” into digital services and practices, the unit can help students know how to exploit information and data, know how to communicate and cooperate in the digital environment; know how to prevent risks of insecurity and protect themselves online; know how to create digital content as well as develop digital skills, build personal brands to create opportunities for career advancement.

After 30 years, the Vietnamese national domain name “.vn” is gradually becoming popular with the message “Increasing website value - Creating brand trust” or “Online presence - Proud of Vietnam”.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, when the country code domain name is integrated into the global internet network, it also carries the mission of establishing the presence and identification of the national "territory" on the world internet map. The use of the country code domain name ".vn" demonstrates the autonomy and independence in managing Vietnam's cyberspace, while contributing to promoting Vietnamese culture, intelligence and spirit to the world.

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