Conditional sectors
In common with all countries, Vietnam reserves its sovereign right to restrict
foreign investment in sensitive fields, namely the “conditional sectors”. Investment projects in conditional sectors must satisfy certain conditions in order to be licensed including the conditions regarding forms of investment, the conditions applicable to establishment of economic organizations and conditions on market access. Conditional sectors include:
i) Broadcasting and television.
ii) Production, publishing and distribution of cultural products.
iii) Exploration and exploitation of minerals.
iv) Establishment of infrastructure for telecommunications network, transmission and provision of internet and telecommunications services.
v) Establishment of public postal network and provision of postal services and express services.
vi) Construction and operation of river ports, sea ports, terminals and
vii)Transportation of goods and passengers by railway, airway, roadway and sea and inland waterways.
viii)Catching of aquaculture.
ix) Production of tobacco.
x) Real estate business.
xi) Import, export and distribution business. xii)Education and training.
xiii)Hospitals and clinics.
xiv)Other investment sectors in international treaties of which Vietnam is a member and which restrict the opening of the market to foreign investors.
Licensing authorities
The authorities who are authorized to issue establishment licenses (or Investment Certificate) to Vietnamese and foreign-owned companies include (i) the Prime Minister of the Government, who approves the “investment policy of investment projects in specific areas, (ii) the People’s Committees (PCs) in the provinces and cities under the central state administration; (iii) the management authorities of industrial zones, export processing zones, high-tech zones and economic zones in the provinces and cities under the central state administration (Management Authorities (MAs); and (iv) the Central authorities for investments in some sectors.
The hierarchy of the investment approval and licensing authority is as follows:
The Prime Minister will approve the following investment projects:
The following investment projects, irrespective of the source of investment capital and scale of investment:
i) Construction and commercial operation of airports; air transportation;
ii) Construction and commercial operation of national sea ports;
iii) Exploration, mining and processing of petroleum; exploration and mining of minerals;
iv) Radio and television broadcasting;
v) Commercial operation of casinos;
vi) Production of cigarettes;
vii) Establishment of university training establishments; and vii) Establishment of IZ, EPZ, HTZ and EZ.
The following investment projects, irrespective of the source of investment capital but with a total invested capital of VND 1,500 billion or more in the following sectors:
i) Business in electricity, processing of minerals, metallurgy;
ii) Construction of railway, road and internal waterway infrastructure; and
iii) Production and business of alcohol, beer;
The following projects with foreign-invested capital in the following sectors:
i) Commercial operation of sea transportation;
ii) Construction of networks for and supply of postal and delivery, telecommunications and internet services, construction of wave transmission networks;
iii) Printing and distributing newspapers and printed matter, publishing; and
iv) Establishment of independent scientific research establishments.
In cases where the investment projects stipulated above are included in the master plan approved by the Prime Minister (or by an entity authorized by him) and satisfy the conditions in accordance with the laws of Vietnam and international treaties to which Vietnam is a member, the Licensing Authority will issue an investment certificate to the investor without making a submission to the Prime Minister for deciding an investment policy.
In cases where the investment projects stipulated above are not included in the master plan approved by the Prime Minister (or by an entity authorized by him) or do not satisfy conditions in international treaties to which Vietnam is a member, the Licensing Authority will obtain opinions from the relevant Ministries, MPI and other relevant bodies in order to collate and submit them to the Prime Minister for his decision on investment policy.
In cases where the investment projects stipulated above are in a sector for which there is no master plan yet, the Licensing Authority will obtain opinions from the relevant Ministries, MPI and other relevant bodies in order to collate and submit them to the Prime Minister for his decision on investment policy.
Provincial People’s Committees
The province’s Department of Planning and Investment is the one-stop-shop assigned to handle the related technical issues, i.e. receiving application, reviewing application, etc.
i) Projects outside Zones and not under PM’s approval authority
ii) Projects for development of infrastructure in Zones in localities with no MA
Management Authorities of IZ, EPZ, HTP and EZ:
i) Projects in the Zones and not under PM’s approval authority ii) Projects for development of infrastructure in the Zones
Central authorities:
Central authorities issue investment certificates for investments in some sectors, specifically as follow:
i) Ministry of Planning and Investment issue investment certificates for BOT, BTO, BT projects;
ii) Ministry of Trade and Industry issues investment certificates for oil & gas projects;
iii) State Bank of Vietnam issues investment certificates for credit institutions; and
iv) Ministry of Finance issues investment certificates for insurance projects.
