Vietnam The New Investment Law 2026 - What You Must Know
The new Investment Law will come into effect from 1 March 2026
On 11 December 2025, the Vietnam’s National Assembly concluded its 10th session, adopting 20 laws and resolutions covering broad legal areas including corporate regulation, cybersecurity, digital transformation, taxation, education, health, and investment policy. Multiple laws will take effect in 2026, affecting corporate structures, tech, data, tax, and investment landscapes. Investment Law is one of the new laws passed.
This new Investment Law will come into effect from 1 March 2026. Notable changes:
(i) Clarifying the scope of projects requiring investment policy approval: The law specifically lists 20 types of projects requiring investment policy approval and narrows (partially) the cases requiring approval. The National Assembly now only approves the policy for one group of projects, the Prime Minister: 8 groups of projects, and the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee: 13 groups of projects. The procedure for approving the policy for housing projects and urban area projects where the enterprise already owns land or is acquiring land has not been abolished.
(ii) Streamlining the cases requiring adjustment of investment policy: Two previously common cases (capital increase ≥20% and technology change) have been eliminated. Businesses only need to adjust projects in five cases.
(iii) Expanding the scope of project transfers: Previously, only projects with approved investors or those with investment registration certificates could be transferred under the Investment Law. According to the new Law, projects with approved investment policies (and adjustments), or those with issued/adjusted investment certificates, can be transferred under the Investment Law.
(iv) Expanding the application of special investment procedures – the “green channel” mechanism: Projects in industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones, international financial centers, etc., can use the “green channel,” eliminating a series of pre-approval procedures (approval of investment policies, EIA, 1/500 scale plan, construction permit, fire safety). Management agencies shift to post-approval. This mechanism does not apply to urban projects or housing projects.
(v) More open to foreign investors: The law allows the establishment of businesses without prior investment projects, provided they comply with market access conditions. This regulation removes a major bottleneck in attracting FDI and enhances the competitiveness of Vietnam’s investment environment.
(vi) Flexible adjustment of project operating periods: Investors are allowed to increase or decrease the project duration during implementation in certain cases, instead of only extending it when it is about to expire as before. Transitional provisions also strongly support projects that are behind schedule or being transferred, especially commercial and service real estate projects and condotel projects.
(vii) Simplification of overseas investment: The law abolishes the procedure for approving investment policies and narrows the scope of projects requiring overseas investment certificates. Most projects only need to register foreign exchange transactions.
(viii) Reducing the number of conditional investment and business sectors: The law reduces approximately 38 sectors and narrows down another 20 sectors.
Disclaimer – The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author and are purely informative in nature.