New Decree 323/2025 on establishment of Vietnam International Financial Center (VIFC)

On 18 December 2025, the Vietnamese government issued Decree 323/2025 on the establishment of Vietnam International Financial Center (VIFC). Decree 323/2025 takes effect immediately and provides guidance for Article 8 and 9 of Resolution 222/2025 of the National Assembly on VIFC. In this post, we discuss some interesting points of Decree 323/2025

1. Single or multiple units

The National Assembly intends that VIFC is one single unit. To confirm this intention, Decree 323/2025 provides that VIFC is a unified legal unit (thực thể pháp lý thống nhất in Vietnamese). However, Vietnamese law does not have definition of legal unit (thực thể pháp lý). In addition, this provision of Decree 323/2025 also seems to contradict with Resolution 222/2025 which defines VIFC as an area with defined geographical boundaries.

However, by locating that single unit into two separate location, putting it under management of multiples authorties, and giving each location a different set of priorities, it is doubtful on how the operation of VIFC can be unified. This is evidenced by:

  • The VIFC is oddly named as “Viet Nam International Financial Center in Ho Chi Minh City (VIFC-HCMC) and Viet Nam International Financial Center in Da Nang City (VIFC-DN)” which compries two individual names within one single entity name.

  • The Operating Authority and Supervisory Authority of VIFC have legal person status, which implied that these authorities’ legal responsibility is independent with VIFC’s legal responsibility.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In ,

Key Terminologies under Vietnam’s AI Law

The Law on Artificial Intelligence (AI Law), which was passed by the National Assembly on 10 December 2025, is arguably among the most anticipated pieces of legislation of Vietnam in 2025.

Unfortunately, similar to the Law on Digital Technology Industry, Vietnam’s AI Law still feels like a half-baked legislation, which makes it hard to clearly identifying the key players in the artificial intelligence (AI) value chain. This article would examine several key terminologies under the AI Law.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In

Training Contract vs Employment Contract Under Vietnamese Law

To retain talent after investing in expensive training, employers often require employees to sign a training contract covering, among other things, work commitment and reimbursement of training costs. In that context, the critical legal question arises if there is a conflict between the provisions of the training contract and the employment contract which of the two will prevail. For example, if an employee exercises their right to terminate the employment contract under the Labor Code, can they disregard the work commitment and avoid reimbursement penalties stipulated in the training contract?

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In

Compliance Burdens For Vietnamese Companies Under New Conditional Data-Related Business Lines

Under Data Law 2024 and the Law on Personal Data Protection 2025 (PDPL 2025), several data-related services, including “personal data processing service” (dịch vụ xử lý dữ liệu cá nhân), personal data protection service (DPO Service), data intermediary service, data trading floor and data synthesis and analysis service (collectively, New Data-Related Services) are now designated as conditional business sectors. The New Data-Related Services (which could include dozen of sub-services) are subject to specific licenses and operational conditions. In the past, data processing or exploitation services in Vietnam were not classified as conditional business lines, allowing providers to operate with limited regulatory prerequisites.

In short, the Government has arguably created (or at least intended to create) more than just a regulatory system; it has established a complex compliance economy. This new framework tethers businesses to a costly ecosystem of mandatory intermediaries, from licensing consultants to training centers and credit rating agencies. To remain operational, enterprises must now absorb the dual burden of initial licensing fees and the recurring costs of maintaining qualified staff and ratings. As these obligations mount, the pressing question remains: will this expensive bureaucracy actually reduce the daily scam calls and messages suffered by Vietnamese citizens, or simply increase the cost of doing business?

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In ,