Vietnam Enacts 15 New Laws to Streamline Economy and Society

Vietnam has promulgated 15 new laws aimed at streamlining investment, business procedures, decentralization, national defense, and strengthening citizen rights, with the overarching goal of facilitating resource flow and accelerating economic growth. The newly enacted laws cover a wide range of sectors including oil and gas, investment, banking, customs, urban development, national defense, publishing, state compensation, grassroots mediation, and overseas labor. These laws are designed not only to amend regulations within specific sectors but also to address practical challenges, particularly resource stagnation, complex procedures, urban development lagging behind infrastructure, the emergence of new demands from a two-tiered local government model, and the need for clearer protection of citizens' rights. In the economic sphere, the Law on Petroleum, amendments to the Law on Investment, the Law on the State Bank of Vietnam, the Law on Anti-Money Laundering, and the Law on Credit Institutions all aim to channel resources into the economy more rapidly while maintaining risk control. The Law on Investment has reduced conditional business lines from 62 to 39 and amended 14 others, shifting the focus from pre-inspection to post-inspection to lessen the burden on businesses before market entry. The banking sector laws focus on perfecting the authority of the State Bank of Vietnam and supplementing regulations on beneficial owners, reporting entities, and suspicious transactions to meet anti-money laundering requirements. Significant reforms are also underway to simplify business procedures. The Law on Customs simplifies inspection and supervision procedures and adds legal grounds for managing goods imported and exported via e-commerce, logistics centers, and free trade zones, emphasizing post-customs clearance inspection. In agriculture and environment, 40 administrative procedures and 40 business conditions have been reduced, and 12 procedures simplified. Furthermore, 24 procedures have been decentralized from central ministries to provincial People's Committees, enabling local authorities to handle matters within their capacity. The Law on Urban Development and amendments to the Law on Architecture are being introduced to address the increasing pressures on major cities from population growth, traffic, housing, green spaces, drainage, education, and healthcare. The Law on Urban Development establishes a legal framework for urban formation, expansion, and renovation, while also expanding decentralization to localities. New mechanisms are geared towards areas with growth potential such as international financial centers, logistics, marine economy, land reclamation, energy, education, healthcare, culture, and tourism. In national defense, numerous regulations concerning military and defense affairs are being adjusted following the reorganization of the state apparatus and the implementation of the two-tiered local government system. The amendments update content related to military command at the commune level, military service obligations, reserve forces, militia and self-defense forces, border defense, civil air defense, and civil defense. Five laws are more directly related to the legal lives of citizens: the Law on Legal Dissemination and Education, amendments to the Law on State Compensation Liability, the Law on Grassroots Mediation, amendments to the Law on Publishing, and amendments to the Law on Vietnamese Workers Going Abroad Under Contract. The Law on State Compensation Liability revises procedures to reduce the burden on affected individuals, with compensation-resolving agencies taking responsibility for collecting necessary documents instead of requiring citizens to complete the entire dossier themselves. These laws represent a crucial step for Vietnam in addressing its economic and social challenges and pursuing sustainable growth. However, their effectiveness will ultimately depend on the specific guidance and implementation during the enforcement phase. Source: VnExpress