HCMC – The National Assembly today, December 11, passed amendments to the Investment Law, removing business licensing requirements for 38 business sectors and revising the scope of 20 others, in a move aimed at reducing administrative barriers and creating a more favorable environment for investors.
The revised law will take effect on March 1, 2026, while the updated list of conditional business sectors will apply from July 1, 2026.
Under the amendments, 38 sectors will no longer be subject to licensing requirements. The list includes a wide range of services such as tax procedure services, customs brokerage, insurance auxiliary services, commercial inspection, temporary-import-for-reexport of goods subject to special consumption tax and frozen food, energy auditing, employment services, and labor subleasing.
Other areas removed from conditional status include automotive warranty and maintenance services; building, conversion and repair of inland waterway vessels and seagoing ships; maritime safety assurance; ship towing; air navigation assurance; multimodal transport; architectural services; and construction activities carried out by foreign contractors.
Administrative and technical service sectors such as apartment building operation management, crematorium operation, data center services, overseas study consultancy, land information system construction, land database development, and even money printing and minting have also been removed from the list.
The law also narrows or revises the scope of 20 other conditional business sectors. Among the key adjustments, “bailiff practice” has been redefined as “bailiff enforcement practice,” while the category for trading in tobacco products and related machinery has been amended to exclude electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco, which remain regulated.
Speaking earlier, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang said ministries and relevant agencies will be tasked with designing standards-based management mechanisms for the affected sectors, shifting from pre-licensing controls to post-check supervision.
The shift aims to move from a licensing-based model to one focused on registration or notification, with regulatory oversight concentrated on technical standards and essential State management requirements.
The appraisal body had previously urged continued efforts to trim the list of conditional business sectors, ensuring that only those necessary for safeguarding national defense, security, social order, public morality, and public health remain subject to regulatory conditions.
List of 38 business sectors removed from conditional investment requirements
- Tax procedure services
- Customs brokerage services
- Insurance auxiliary services
- Commercial inspection services
- Temporary-import-for-reexport of goods subject to special consumption tax
- Temporary import–re-export of frozen food
- Temporary import–re-export of used goods
- Energy auditing services
- Employment services
- Labor subleasing services
- Automobile warranty and maintenance services
- Building, conversion, repair and restoration of inland waterway vessels
- Maritime safety assurance services
- Ship towing services
- Shipbuilding, conversion and repair services
- Air navigation assurance services
- Multimodal transport services
- Architectural services
- Construction activities conducted by foreign contractors
- Construction cost management practice
- Apartment building operation management services
- Crematorium operation services
- Data center services
- Overseas study consultancy services
- Breeding and cultivation of wildlife species listed under CITES and Vietnam’s endangered species lists
- Breeding of common wildlife species
- Export, import, re-export, transit and introduction from the sea of natural specimens of species listed under CITES and Vietnam’s endangered species lists
- Export, import, and re-export of captive-bred, artificially propagated specimens of species listed under CITES and Vietnam’s endangered species lists
- Processing, trading, transporting, advertising, displaying and storing specimens of species listed under CITES and endangered species lists
- Trading in food products under the specialized management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Animal quarantine and isolation services
- Cosmetic surgery services
- Verification, calibration and testing of measuring instruments and standards
- Artistic performance, fashion shows, beauty pageants and modeling contests
- IT infrastructure development and software construction for land information systems
- Land database development services
- Printing and minting of money
- Archival storage services
