38 Conditional Business Activities Reduced and 20 Activities Revised
On 11 December 2025, the National Assembly of Vietnam enacted amendments to the Law on Investment, introducing several significant reforms:
- The number of conditional business activities has been reduced by 38, resulting in a total of 196 conditional business lines remaining, with a primary focus on finance, accounting, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, construction, and transportation.
- An additional 20 business activities have undergone review and modification.
- Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products have been newly added to the prohibition list.
These 38 business activities will no longer require obtaining a sector-specific licence as a condition precedent to commencing operations. Instead of that, the regulatory approach will shift toward either elimination of such requirements or conversion from license/certification to procedure of publication of business requirements and conditions, accompanied by a post-inspection (hậu kiểm) management mechanism.
The Government will publish 2 new lists:
- The list of conditional businesses that must continue to undergo pre-operation licensing or certification; and
- The list of conditional businesses that transition from licensing/certification to a regime based on published business requirements and post-inspection management.
The amended Law consists of 7 chapters and 52 articles and will take effect on 1 March 2026, except for Article 7 and the List of Conditional Business Activities (Appendix IV), which take effect from 1 July 2026.
The Government has indicated that relevant ministries will formulate regulatory standards and management methods for sectors affected by the licensing cuts.
CONDITIONAL BUSINESS ACTIVITIES REMOVED
No. | Business Line | Sector |
1 | Tax procedure services | Finance, Accounting, Commerce |
2 | Customs procedure services | Finance, Accounting, Commerce |
3 | Insurance auxiliary services | Finance, Accounting, Commerce |
4 | Commercial inspection services | Finance, Accounting, Commerce |
5 | Temporary import and re-export of goods subject to excise tax | Finance, Accounting, Commerce |
6 | Temporary import and re-export of frozen food | Finance, Accounting, Commerce |
7 | Temporary import and re-export of used goods | Finance, Accounting, Commerce |
8 | Energy auditing | Finance, Accounting, Commerce |
9 | Employment services | Culture, Society and Health |
10 | Labor subcontracting services | Construction, Transportation |
11 | Automobile warranty and maintenance services | Construction, Transportation |
12 | New building, conversion, repair, and restoration of inland waterway vehicles | Construction, Transportation |
13 | Maritime safety assurance services | Construction, Transportation |
14 | Sea towing services | Construction, Transportation |
15 | New building, conversion, and repair of ships | Construction, Transportation |
16 | Flight operation assurance services | Construction, Transportation |
17 | Multimodal transport services | Construction, Transportation |
18 | Architectural services | Construction, Transportation |
19 | Construction activities by foreign contractors | Construction, Transportation |
20 | Cost management services for construction investment | Construction, Transportation |
21 | Management and operation services for apartment buildings | Construction, Transportation |
22 | Management and operation services for cremation facilities | Culture, Society and Health |
23 | Data center services | Technology, Land |
24 | Study abroad consulting services | Culture, Society and Health |
25 | Breeding and planting of wild species listed under CITES and endangered species lists | Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries |
26 | Breeding common wild animals | Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries |
27 | Export, import, re-export, transit, and introduction from sea of natural specimens of species under CITES and endangered species lists | Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries |
28 | Export, import, re-export of artificially propagated or bred specimens under CITES and endangered species lists | Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries |
29 | Processing, trading, transporting, advertising, displaying, storing specimens of species under CITES and endangered species lists | Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries |
30 | Trading food under specialized management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development | Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries |
31 | Animal quarantine services | Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries |
32 | Cosmetic surgery services | Culture, Society and Health |
33 | Calibration, testing, and verification services for measuring instruments | Technology, Land |
34 | Art performance, fashion shows, beauty contests, and modeling services | Culture, Society and Health |
35 | IT infrastructure construction and software development for land information systems | Technology, Land |
36 | Land database construction services | Technology, Land |
37 | Printing and minting money | Finance, Accounting, Commerce |
38 | Archiving services | Finance, Accounting, Commerce |
Taken together, these changes reflect a continued policy direction toward simplifying market-entry procedures and refining regulatory oversight. This update highlights the key changes relating to conditional business lines. Other aspects of the amended Law on Investment will be covered in a more detailed articles to follow.
For any further questions or assistance, please reach out to us at vietnam@alitium.com
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