Vietnam's 2025 Amended Investment Law: A Major Overhaul of the Investment Approval Regime and Its Practical Impact on Foreign Investment Attraction

Vietnam's amended Investment Law, which took effect in July 2025, introduced a fundamental overhaul of the investment approval regime.

01 - Narrowing the scope of projects requiring Prime Minister approval (Article 31)
Prime Minister approval is now limited to large-scale projects at special ports and Class I ports (with investment capital of VND 2.3 trillion or more). Approval is now required only for projects within Protection Zone I of a World Heritage Site (Protection Zone II no longer requires approval). Prime Minister approval has been abolished entirely for infrastructure development projects in industrial parks and export processing zones.

02 - Expanded scope for investment policy approval by provincial People's Committees, advancing decentralization
Projects within Protection Zone I of a national heritage site, infrastructure projects in industrial parks and export processing zones, and mid-scale special port projects (under VND 2.3 trillion) now fall within the approval authority of provincial People's Committees. This allows for a faster approval process and direct negotiation with local governments.

03 - A new special investment procedure: a tailwind for high-tech, startup, and foreign-invested enterprises (Article 36a)
Projects such as semiconductor facilities and R&D centers located in industrial parks, export processing zones, or hi-tech parks can now bypass investment policy approval, technical appraisal, environmental impact assessment, and construction permits, with the Investment Registration Certificate (IRC) issued within 15 working days. Submission of an economic-technical report and technical appraisal results, however, remains mandatory.

04 - Additions to the list of conditional investment and business sectors: unmanned aerial vehicles and data-related businesses now included
Six sectors have newly been added to the list of conditional business lines: the import, sale, research and development, and maintenance of unmanned aerial vehicles, and data brokerage/integrated analytics services and data platform operation services. These sectors have become subject to regulation on national security and AI technology control grounds.