A long-awaited ordinance on post and telecommunication ("Ordinance") was promulgated by President Tran Duc Luong on June 11, 2002 after being ratified by the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on May 25, 2002. The Ordinance will take effects as of September 1, 2002, and replaced Government Decree No. 109/1997/ND-CP which is no longer appropriate for a rapidly growing and dynamic P&T sector. With 79 articles in 8 chapters, the Ordinance in general aims at creating a comprehensive legal framework for the sector, opening up the market by transforming from enterprise monopoly to a cooperative and competitive environment. While the Ordinance allows all economic sectors to take part in P&T services, it sets a principle that the most fundamental and significant ones, defined as public utility services, will be still retained by the State. The following are the most noted points of the Ordinance.
