The Government issued Decree 09/2018/ND-CP, detailing the Commercial Law and the Law on foreign trade management regarding goods purchasing and selling activities and other activities directly related to the sale and purchase of goods by foreign investors and economic organizations with foreign invested capital in Viet Nam (Decree 09).

Vu Tien Loc, chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), confirmed that removing unnecessary administrative procedures and business conditions will motivate Vietnamese businesses.

Although Vietnam's equitisation (partial privatisation) of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is normally slow at the start of each year, 2018 has so far brought a sense of urgency. We believe that the success of some recent initial public offerings (IPOs), in addition to new initiatives such as Decree 126 and the recently unveiled Committee for State Capital Management, underline a greater resolve on the part of the government to achieve its ambitious equitisation plans.

Last year saw a lot of merger and acquisition (M&A) activities in the Vietnamese property sector, with transactions totalling US$1.5 billion and the participation of many major foreign players.

The prime minister has issued comments on the business conditions for golf course projects.

Thanks to Vietnam’s issuing incentive policies to lure investment into the renewable energy sector, more and more foreign investors, especially those from South Korea, have expressed ambitions to join the field.

The Government issued Decree 146/2017/ND-CP (Decree 146) amending and supplementing some regulations on value added tax (VAT) and corporate income tax (CIT) of Decree 100/2016/ND-CP (Decree 100) and Decree 12/2015/ND-CP (Decree 12).

The Government has issued Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP detailing the execution of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety, including food safety requirements in the production, trading and use of additives.

A string of policies on business income, social insurance, logistics, digital signatures, unbaked materials come into effect from February, 2018.

An update on the securities law this year focuses on nine targets in the hope of giving a boost to the development of the securities market as well as the broader financial sector.

PetroVietnam Gas JSC (PV Gas) plans to sell 30 per cent of its total shares by 2020. Shell, Total, and Tokyo Gas have already expressed their desire to become strategic investors in the company.

The Government and the PM issued 25 legal documents including 23 Decrees and two Decisions in December 2017.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment on November 15, 2017 issued Circular 04/2017/TT-BKHDT (“Circular 04”), which details the selection of bidders through the National Bidding Network System (hereinafter referred to as the “network”) with respect to bidding packages for provision of consultancy and non-consultancy, procurement and erection services, governed by the Law on bidding and putting in competitive and nationwide bids.

Some weak banks that are undergoing restructuring might get out of the worse thanks to unprecedented support measures under a new law, experts have said.

Vietnamese authorities have started developing specific guidelines for selecting investors to develop renewable energy projects under their management, weeding out weak investors and out-of-date technology.

The Government issued Decree 126/2017/ND-CP (Decree 126) dated November 16, 2017 guiding the conversion of state owned enterprises ("SOEs") and one-member limited liability companies of which their charter capital is 100% invested by an SOE into joint stock companies.

The Government issued Decree 126/2017/ND-CP (Decree 126) dated November 16, 2017 guiding the conversion of state owned enterprises ("SOEs") and one-member limited liability companies of which their charter capital is 100% invested by an SOE into joint stock companies.

The Ministry of Finance has issued Circular No.130/2017/TT-BTC on amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No. 215/2016/TT-BTC on amounts, collection, payment, management and use of fees for providing information about enterprises, charges for enterprise registration.

The Government issued Decree No.9/2018/NĐ-CP defining the conditions on the establishment of retail activities of foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) in Viet Nam. 

The State Securities Commission (SSC) has issued a draft regulation requiring the initial margin ratio contracted by securities companies for margin lending to be at least 60 per cent, which is expected to take effect in early February.