Knowledge base

On 12/02/2026, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha signed Decision 288/QD-TTg establishing the Hai Phong Special Economic Zone covering 5,300 hectares across 6 communes. The zone includes industrial parks, industrial clusters, a general trade and services area, a free trade zone, logistics service zones, a logistics center, and an innovation center. The goal is to develop high-tech, environmentally friendly industries, targeting 3-4% contribution to Hai Phong's GRDP by 2030 and over 5% after 2030. Development is phased: planning completion (2025-2026), construction and initial operations (2026-2030), and fully integrated infrastructure (2031-2035). The decision takes effect from its signing date (12/02/2026), with the Hai Phong People's Committee responsible for implementation.

On 12 February 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 57/2026/ND-CP setting out detailed rules for restructuring state capital in enterprises, implementing the Law on Management and Investment of State Capital in Enterprises No. 68/2025/QH15. The available content focuses on the equitization process - converting single-member limited liability companies wholly owned by the State (parent companies of economic groups, state corporations, or independent companies) into joint-stock companies. The Decree sets out equitization conditions and forms (keeping the state stake and issuing new shares, selling part or all of the state stake), and defines who may buy shares in the initial offering: domestic investors, foreign investors, and strategic investors. Strategic investors must meet financial-capacity and industry-experience thresholds and give binding commitments, such as keeping the brand and core business for at least 3 years, a 3-year lock-up on purchased shares, and a 20 percent deposit on the registered share value. The Decree also sets standards for valuation consulting firms, the pre-equitization financial process (asset inventory, tax finalization, handling of asset surpluses or shortfalls), tax-deductibility of equitization costs for corporate income tax purposes, and the new joint-stock company's obligation to assume employee rights and obligations. This Decree primarily affects state-owned enterprises slated for equitization, their owner-representative agencies, the auditing, valuation, and consulting firms involved in the process, and domestic or foreign investors seeking to buy shares in state enterprises. Accounting and legal teams at enterprises with state capital should track this to prepare financial records, tax finalizations, and asset disposals on time when their enterprise is designated for equitization. Note: the extracted content is cut off at the asset-method business valuation provisions (Article 29) and does not include the divestment (thoai von) chapter referenced in the document title, nor the effective-date clause.

The Ministry of Construction has issued Consolidated Document No. 13/VBHN-BXD, merging Decree No. 100/2024/ND-CP with its subsequent amending decrees, Decree 261/2025/ND-CP, Decree 192/2025/ND-CP, and most recently Decree 54/2026/ND-CP, effective from February 9, 2026. The document details the entire process for developing and managing social housing (NOXH) under the 2023 Housing Law, covering everything from project preparation and investor selection to the sale, lease, and lease-purchase of social housing units. For real estate developers, the most important rule is the requirement to set aside 20 percent of the serviced residential land in commercial housing projects located in special-grade and Class I, II, and III urban areas for social housing construction. Developers may instead use an equivalent land parcel elsewhere in the same urban area, or pay a cash amount equal to that land's value, made up of the land use fee plus infrastructure costs. Social housing developers are exempt from land use fees and land rent for the entire project area without needing to apply for the exemption, their profit margin is capped at 10 percent of total construction cost for the social housing portion, and they can access preferential loans. Investors are selected either through direct approval, when only one investor expresses interest, or through a 100 point competitive bidding process in which the proposed sale or rental price accounts for 40 to 50 percent of the total score. For buyers, tenants, and lease-purchasers of social housing, including low-income individuals and households, industrial zone workers, and armed forces personnel, the document sets out eligibility conditions on housing and income, pricing methods, and the procedures for price appraisal and contract signing. Businesses planning commercial housing projects in major cities, or building worker accommodation in industrial zones, should review their social-housing land or cash contribution obligations and the corresponding incentives under this newly consolidated decree.

Decree 55/2026/ND-CP was published in Official Gazette No. 121 dated 25/02/2026. However, the substantive content of the Decree was not extracted from the PDF source - the document only contains page headers (CONG BAO/So 121/Ngay 25-02-2026) for pages 25 through 46 without any actual text body, ending with the signature of Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc. The specific amendments introduced by this Decree cannot be determined from the provided source text. The Decree was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc and published in Official Gazette No. 121 dated 25/02/2026.

Decree 54/2026/ND-CP, dated February 9, 2026, amends a broad set of provisions across four decrees implementing the Housing Law and the Real Estate Business Law (Decrees 96/2024, 95/2024, 98/2024, and 100/2024), plus two Ministry of Construction decentralization decrees (140/2025 and 144/2025). It is a major administrative-procedure reform for the housing and real estate sector, effective from its signing date. On general principles, applications can now be filed in person, online, or by post; many pieces of personal information will be replaced by the personal identification number once the national population database is operational, and results can be issued electronically with the same legal value as paper documents. Several processing deadlines are cut significantly - for example from 15 to 10 days, from 30 to 20 days, or from 15 days down to just 5 working days for condominium renovation and reconstruction procedures. For foreign investors, the decree shortens to 7 days the time the Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Public Security have to give an opinion on national defense and security zones when a developer wants to sell off-plan housing to foreign organizations or individuals. Office and premises requirements for real estate brokerage firms are simplified in line with enterprise law, and termination or suspension of trading floors and brokerage firms now follows general enterprise-law procedures instead of a separate process. The decree adds a pricing formula (including value-added tax) for state-built resettlement housing sale, lease, and lease-purchase prices, revises the registration process for buying, renting, or lease-purchasing social housing and housing for the armed forces, and reassigns management authority over state-owned housing to match the two-tier local government model. Real estate developers, project owners, trading floors, brokerage firms, and foreign investors should update their internal processes promptly to meet the new deadlines and procedures.

The Ministry of Finance provides guidance to the Hai Phong City Department of Finance on establishing a provincial-level Civil Defense Fund, addressing a question about an apparent conflict between the Civil Defense Law No. 18/2023/QH15 and Politburo Resolution 79-NQ/TW dated 6 January 2026. According to the Ministry of Finance: Hai Phong is permitted to establish a provincial Civil Defense Fund (as an off-budget state financial fund). The legal basis is Articles 39, 40 and 41 of Civil Defense Law No. 18/2023/QH15 - this law took effect on 1 July 2024, before Politburo Resolution 79-NQ/TW was issued on 6 January 2026, and the National Assembly had already authorized the fund's establishment. Government Decree No. 200/2025/ND-CP dated 9 July 2025 provides detailed provisions in Articles 23 through 40 on the fund's organization and operations. The Ministry of Finance issued Official Letter No. 1577/BTC-NSNN dated 6 February 2026 guiding the establishment and issuance of operational regulations for provincial Civil Defense Funds, specifying that the fund has legal personality, its own seal, and may open accounts at the State Treasury and commercial banks.

Circular 08/2026/TT-BTC issued by the Ministry of Finance on February 3, 2026, takes immediate effect on the same date, amending several important regulations related to Vietnam's securities market. This document modifies three previous circulars: Circular 96/2020/TT-BTC on information disclosure guidelines in the securities market, Circular 120/2020/TT-BTC on trading of listed shares, registered securities and other instruments, and Circular 121/2020/TT-BTC on securities company operations. For SMEs planning to list, issue shares or corporate bonds, this Circular is particularly significant as it directly impacts information disclosure obligations, securities trading procedures and new compliance requirements. These changes aim to modernize and enhance transparency in Vietnam's securities market, while adjusting regulations to align with operational practices. Businesses should note that the Circular takes effect immediately and the amendments build upon previous modifications made by Circular 68/2024/TT-BTC and Circular 18/2025/TT-BTC. Listed companies, securities firms and related enterprises need to review their internal processes to ensure compliance with new regulations on information disclosure, securities trading and business operations.

The Ministry of Finance addressed the situation of a household that obtained a district People's Committee decision in February 2026 to convert garden land to residential land, but the tax authority has been unable to determine the financial obligation because detailed implementing guidance was reportedly not yet available. The Ministry clarified that Decree 50/2026/ND-CP dated 31 January 2026 (effective 31 January 2026) already provides detailed rules for calculating the land-use levy when households convert garden, pond, or agricultural land to residential land under point c, clause 2, Article 10 of Resolution 254/2025/QH15. Responsibility for determining and collecting the levy rests with provincial People's Committees and local functional agencies per Articles 44 and 48 of Decree 103/2024/ND-CP (as amended). The household is directed to contact local functional agencies to complete the process under existing law.

Circular No. 03/2026/TT-BXD, issued by the Ministry of Construction on January 28, 2026, provides detailed guidance for implementing Decree No. 269/2025/ND-CP on smart urban development. It sets out how to evaluate and recognize a province's or city's «smart urban maturity level» across three ascending tiers - foundation building, system linkage, and governance innovation - based on 52 criteria and indicators grouped into six pillars: institutions, planning and construction, technical infrastructure, socio-economic infrastructure, digital infrastructure and platforms, and governance. The circular also lays out the process for evaluating and certifying «smart urban zones» for urban development investment projects, including the competency requirements for assessment organizations and a mandate to partner with a reputable international body for large-scale projects (50 hectares or more, or a population of 15,000 or more). It further assigns data-reporting responsibilities to ministries, provincial People's Committees, and project developers feeding into the National Smart Urban Information Portal. This is a specialized urban planning and city-management document that mainly affects local governments and developers of large-scale urban zone projects. It contains no provisions on tax, accounting, e-invoicing, labor, or customs, so it falls outside the core interest area of most SMEs. The circular takes effect from its date of signing (January 28, 2026).

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued Consolidated Circular No. 34/VBHN-NHNN dated January 22, 2026, merging the original Circular No. 37/2013/TT-NHNN with the amendments, additions and repeals introduced by Circular No. 78/2025/TT-NHNN (effective January 25, 2026). The consolidated text governs the opening and use of accounts, and the foreign-exchange registration procedures, for outward loans made by Vietnamese economic organizations and for recovering debt that arises when those organizations perform guarantee obligations on behalf of non-residents. It applies only to organizations specifically authorized by the Prime Minister to lend to, or guarantee, non-resident counterparties, not to businesses generally. Compared with the prior rules, the 2025-2026 amendment significantly streamlines administrative procedures in this area: several clauses on required dossier components and mandatory registration cases were repealed; a new Article 7a sets out three channels for submitting dossiers (in person at SBV's one-stop unit, by post, or online via the National Public Service Portal) and allows digital signatures for electronic filings. The responsible SBV unit was renamed from the 'Department of Foreign Exchange Management' to the 'Foreign Exchange Management Department', and several provisions specific to credit institutions and foreign bank branches were removed from this circular's direct scope. Vietnamese enterprises that have, or expect to obtain, Prime Ministerial approval to lend abroad or guarantee obligations for non-residents should note the practical requirements: open a dedicated account at a licensed account-service credit institution before any related fund transfer; register (or register changes to) the loan or the guarantee-debt-recovery amount with SBV within 30 days of signing the relevant agreement (or within 60 days of the fund transfer for guarantee-debt recovery); and comply with monthly (by the 10th of the following month) and annual (by January 31 of the following year) reporting to SBV's Foreign Exchange Management Department. Dossiers filed complete and valid before January 25, 2026 continue to be processed under the rules in force at the time of filing.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued Consolidated Document No. 33/VBHN-NHNN, merging Circular No. 22/2013/TT-NHNN (effective from October 1, 2013) with the amendments introduced by Circular No. 78/2025/TT-NHNN (effective from January 25, 2026). The document sets out the procedures for registering, and registering changes to, foreign loans and international bond issuances that carry a Government guarantee, applying to borrowers and bond issuers under the rules on Government guarantee issuance and management. The key update from Circular 78/2025/TT-NHNN is the addition of an online filing channel through the National Public Service Portal, alongside in-person and postal submission. It also sets a clear 3-working-day deadline for SBV to check dossier completeness, and renames the responsible unit from «Vụ Quản lý Ngoại hối» (Foreign Exchange Management Department) to «Cục Quản lý ngoại hối» (Foreign Exchange Management Authority), reflecting an administrative upgrade of that unit within SBV. The confirmation timeline remains 7 working days for a new loan or bond registration and 5 working days for a change registration, both counted from receipt of a complete, valid dossier. If a dossier is incomplete, the borrower has up to 60 days to supplement it before the file is closed. While this is a technical administrative procedure, large enterprises, state-owned enterprises, and foreign-invested companies raising foreign loans or issuing international bonds under a Government guarantee should note the updated filing process, especially the 30-day window from signing the guarantee letter or amendment agreement to submit the registration dossier to SBV before disbursement or implementing any change.

Dong Nai Tax Department No. 10 clarifies: under Article 1(2), Article 7(3) and Article 9 of Decree 20/2026/ND-CP, the three-year CIT exemption for newly registered SMEs applies from the date Resolution 198/2025/QH15 took effect. A company registered in June 2022 - before the Resolution's effective date - is entitled only to the remaining portion of the three-year period counted from its initial registration date. Since the three-year window from June 2022 expired before June 2025 - prior to the Resolution's effective date - no remaining exemption time existed when the Resolution came into force. The company is therefore not entitled to CIT exemption for January through May 2025.