The Ministry of Finance has recently collected opinions on a new draft of the Business Investment Law, which proposes certain changes to the current Investment Law 2020. The draft law is expected to take effect from 1 July 2026. We discuss some key changes proposed in the draft Business Investment Law.

Lack of bold reforms directed by the Politburo  

Earlier this year, the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam (the highest decision- making authority in Vietnam) issued Resolution 68/2025 on developing the private business sector. At the time, Resolution 68 was widely reported as a bold move to start a “new dawn” for Vietnam private business sector (see here for example). Following Resolution 68, the National Assembly duly issued Resolution 198/2025 to make Resolution 68 the law of the land. However, since Resolution 198/2025 simply copied and pasted from the text of Resolution 68, it is difficult to know how the instructions and reforms directed by the Politburo are to be implemented in practice. The National Assembly nevertheless requires complete changes to the “investment law” to implement the instructions from the Politburo by December 2025 which includes a reduction of at least 30% of business conditions.

One would expect that the amendments to the Investment Law will provide further implementation and guidance to Resolution 198/2025. However, it appears this is not the case. For example, the new draft Business Investment Law has 212 areas of conditional business a reduction of mere 10% (not 30%). The new draft Business Investment Law retains  the investment licensing procedures introduced 30 years ago under the Foreign Investment Law 1987 with some unclear tinkering.

The National Assembly of Vietnam adopted a new law (the Amended Investment Law) to amend and supplement several provisions in Investment Law 2020. Most provisions of the Amended Investment Law take effect from 1 January 2025, except certain cases will take effect from 1 July 2025. In this post, we discuss some notable points in this Amended Investment Law.

Special Investment Procedures

The key point in this Amended Investment Law is the introduction of a special investment procedure (Special Procedure) which allows the eligible investors in certain high-tech sectors to obtain the investment registration certificate (IRC) and implement its project in a shorter time and reduces procedures, including waiver of various approvals and procedures.

The project utilizing the Special Procedure are exempt from various standard approvals and procedures, including IPA, technology appraisal, environmental impact assessment report, detail planning, construction permit and other approvals and permits in construction, fire fighting and prevention. The issued IRC serves as document for land lease or conversion of land use purpose. However, before commencing construction, investors are obliged to submit a report on the project's economic-technical construction investment, along with the corresponding appraisal report, to the relevant Authority.

This Special Procedure prevails relevant regulations under other laws enacted before 15 January 2025 when there is any difference between the Special Procedure and such other laws. For projects having IPA or IRC before the effective date of Amended Investment Law and eligible for utilizing the Special Procedure, the investor of such project can choose to apply the Special Procedure. The Special Procedure is still subject to further guidance from the Government and Ministry of Planning and Investment.