Law on Investment 2025 takes effect

The Law on Investment, spanning seven chapters and 52 articles, imposes a prohibition on the trade of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. It also removes 39 conditional business lines that no longer meet the criteria stipulated, and revises the scope of 20 other conditional business sectors. These mark a major transition from pre-approval controls to a post-audit model, thereby safeguarding freedom of business operations.

Under the law, foreign investors are entitled to establish an economic organisation to implement an investment project before carrying out procedures for the issuance or amendment of the investment registration certificate. It is expected the government will provide guidance on implementation.

Another highlight issues clearer scope of projects subject to investment policy approval (IPA) and enhanced decentralisation of authority.

The new law lists 20 initiative categories requiring investment policy approval. It further decentralises the approving authority for IPA.

The National Assembly will now grant IPAs only for projects applying special mechanisms or policies. In turn, the Prime Minister will be entitled to grant IPAs for eight specific project categories listed under Article 24, including casino and nuclear power plants.

The chairperson of the provincial People’s Committee, instead of the provincial People’s Committee under the Law on Investment 2020, will now be authorised to grant IPAs to 13 categories listed under Article 24, including projects allocated land not through land auctions (subject to certain exceptions) and land located in areas affecting national defence or security.

It simplifies procedures for adjusting investment projects and abolishes two cases that previously required policy adjustments: projects with changes in total investment capital of 20 per cent or more and projects involving changes in appraised technology.

The law expands the scope of special investment procedures, exempting a range of administrative requirements for projects in industrial parks, high-tech parks, digital technology zones, and financial centres.

The law abolishes procedures for outward investment policy approval and narrows the entities required to obtain an outward investment registration certificate.

It also broadens the scope for transferring investment projects, applying to most projects that have obtained approval of the investment policy or an investment registration certificate.