Vietnam has introduced certain amendments to the Law on Investment 2020, reshaping the framework for investor selection, project approval, and conditional business sectors. These changes, effective from July 1, 2025, reflect the country’s evolving priorities in technology, infrastructure, and regulatory decentralization.
- Decentralization of Project Approval Authority
- National Assembly: The authority to approve nuclear power projects has been removed.
- Prime Minister: Several approval powers have been transferred to provincial People’s Committees, though the Prime Minister retains authority over nuclear power plants.
- Provincial People’s Committees: Now responsible for approving large-scale projects, including:
- Resettlement projects affecting ≥10,000 people in mountainous areas or ≥20,000 in other regions.
- Construction of airports, runways, international passenger terminals, and cargo terminals with capacity ≥1 million tons/year.
- New passenger air transport businesses.
- Oil and gas processing projects.
- Housing and urban development projects, regardless of land or population scale.
- Industrial zones, export processing zones, and digital technology zones.
- Special seaports and Class I seaports.
- Streamlined Procedures
- Investment approval dossiers and procedures (Articles 33 & 36) will now follow Government regulations, ensuring consistency and reducing administrative complexity.
- Investment registration (Article 36a) expands to include projects in:
- Industrial zones, export processing zones, high-tech zones, digital technology zones, free trade zones, and economic zones.
- Strategic technology infrastructure such as large-scale data centers, cloud computing, 5G and beyond, and other digital infrastructure.
- Environmental requirements are strengthened: investors must provide commitments on standards and environmental impact forecasts instead of preliminary assessments.
- Investment Duration
- Projects outside economic zones: maximum 50 years.
- Projects in difficult socio-economic areas, large-scale projects with slow capital recovery, high-tech infrastructure, or those eligible for special incentives: maximum 70 years.
- Transfer of Secondary Urban Projects
- Secondary projects in urban areas launched before January 1, 2021, with completed land-use rights and financial obligations, may now be transferred wholly or partially.
- The transferee inherits all rights and obligations, with approvals and adjustments granted under Government regulations.
- Expansion of Conditional Business Sectors
- Newly added sectors:
- Services related to crypto assets.
- Personal data processing services.
- Removed sector:
Implications
These amendments mark a strategic shift in Vietnam’s investment landscape:
- Decentralization empowers provincial authorities, accelerating project approvals.
- Technology focus highlights Vietnam’s ambition to attract investment in digital infrastructure and strategic technologies.
- Flexibility in project duration and transfer rules supports long-term, large-scale investments.
- New conditional sectors align with global trends in digital assets and data governance, while removing outdated categories.
This reform package signals Vietnam’s intent to balance economic growth, technological advancement, and regulatory modernization, positioning the country as a competitive destination for both traditional and digital-era investments.
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