Foreign investors are allowed to establish enterprises without having a prior investment project

Specifically, according to Clause 1, Article 8 of the Law on Investment 2025, from March 1, 2026, foreign investors will be allowed to invest in the Vietnamese market if they meet the market access conditions as prescribed for domestic investors, except for the case of sectors,  Occupations to be invested are industries and trades that are restricted from market access as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 8, including the following industries and trades:

• Industries and trades that have not been allowed to access the market according to Section A, Appendix I of Decree 31/2021/ND-CP (except for ordinal numbers 11 and 18 as amended and supplemented in Clause 30, Article 1 of Decree 239/2025/ND-CP): foreign investors are not allowed to invest and do business in Vietnam for these industries
• Sectors and trades subject to conditional market access according to Appendix IV of the Law on Investment 2025: foreign investors wishing to invest in these industries and trades must meet the conditions specified in Clause 3, Article 8 of the Law on Investment 2025, including:
  • Percentage of charter capital ownership of foreign investors in economic organizations;
  • Form of investment;
  • Scope of investment activities;
  • Investor’s capacity; partners participating in the implementation of investment activities;
  • Other conditions prescribed in laws and resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinances and resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, decrees of the Government and treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

Meeting the above conditions, foreign investors do not need to implement previous investment projects as prescribed in the Law on Investment 2020 to establish an economic organization, but can establish an economic organization immediately, instead of being forced to complete the procedures for granting an Investment Registration Certificate from the beginning according to Clause 2, Article 19 of the Law on Investment 2025.