2025 – APPROVED 18 LAWS AND 21 RESOLUTIONS

SUMMARY OF NOTEWORTHY CONTENT REGARDING LEGISLATIVE WORK AT THE 8TH SESSION OF THE 15TH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

On the afternoon of November 30, during the closing session, the Resolution of the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly was passed with 464 out of 464 National Assembly deputies voting in favor, accounting for 96.87% of the total number of deputies. In this session, the National Assembly of Vietnam approved 18 laws and 21 resolutions and provided first opinions on 10 draft laws. This article will summarize notable legislative achievements from the session.

Regarding the 18 new laws passed

Important Contents of the Law on Geological and Mineral 2024

The newly passed Law on Geological and Mineral will take effect from July 1, 2025, replacing the Law on Mineral 2010. The new law supplements regulations related to the exploration, extraction, auction, or non-auction of strategic and important minerals (minerals critical to national defense, security, and economic development, such as rare earth, radioactive minerals (uranium-thorium), rare metals (lithium), and scarce metals (gold, copper, tungsten, nickel)); it assigns the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to submit to the Prime Minister a list of strategic and important minerals.

Additionally, the law adds regulations regarding principles, procedures, and responsibilities for budget contributions by organizations and individuals mining minerals to invest in upgrading and maintaining infrastructure and environmental protection projects in the area. This regulation aims to foster consensus and support from residents where mining projects are implemented, while also addressing the negative impacts on communities living in areas with mining activities.

Regarding mineral exploration licensing, the law stipulates: “Each organization or individual is allowed to be granted no more than 5 exploration licenses for a type of mineral, excluding expired licenses. If more than 5 licenses are issued to the same organization, it must be approved in writing by the Prime Minister.”

For mineral extraction licensing, despite some differing opinions, the regulation on the duration of mineral extraction licenses remains unchanged at 30 years, with extensions allowed but not exceeding a total of 50 years (equal to the typical investment project duration as per investment law).

Important Contents of the Law on Urban and Rural Planning 2024

The law consists of 5 chapters and 59 articles, effective from July 1, 2025. The Law on Urban and Rural Planning clearly defines the urban and rural planning system, comprising 5 types and 3 levels of planning, the cases that require general planning, sub-planning, and detailed planning (modernized to be more flexible, not requiring all cases to establish all 3 levels of planning); it provides general regulations on urban and rural planning as a basis for developing construction investment projects, ensuring the compatibility of construction investment projects with each type and level of planning. The government is empowered to provide detailed guidance on these regulations to ensure flexibility and convenience in organizing the implementation of various construction investment projects. Furthermore, the law has revised, clarified, reduced overlaps, and enhanced decentralization in the establishment, appraisal, approval, and adjustment of urban and rural planning while ensuring unified management from central to local levels. These changes aim to ensure coherence and efficiency in planning management.

Amendments in the Revised Law on Public Investment 2024

The law includes 7 chapters and 103 articles and will take effect from January 1, 2025. One notable new point in the revised Public Investment Law is the increase in the criteria for the scale of public investment in important national projects from 10 trillion VND to 30 trillion VND (in line with the development of the country’s economic scale); it adjusts the authority to decide on investment policy for group B and C projects, transferring the authority from local People’s Councils to local People’s Committees (with the responsibility for reporting to the same level People’s Council). Additionally, the Prime Minister is also empowered to adjust the medium-term public investment plan from the central budget in certain cases.

Amendments to the Law on Planning, Law on Investment, Law on Public-Private Partnership, and Law on Bidding

The law includes 6 articles; amends and supplements 119 articles and clauses, and 3 appendices of 4 laws, taking effect from January 15, 2025. The general spirit of this amended Law is to continue minimizing, promoting, and simplifying investment procedures.

Notably, among the amendments is the regulation on special investment procedures to attract investment in priority fields such as innovation, research and development, high technology, the semiconductor industry, semiconductor materials, etc., to be implemented in industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones, concentrated information technology zones, free trade zones, and functional areas in economic zones.

The selection of investors in special cases is also supplemented, whereby the law stipulates the selection of investors in certain special cases when the investment project has specific requirements or conditions regarding investment procedures, land allocation, land lease, sea areas, or requirements related to national defense, security, foreign relations, territorial borders, and national interests that cannot utilize regular investor selection forms.

Additionally, the law adds regulations on adjusting national, regional, and provincial planning following streamlined procedures in certain cases to resolve obstacles in planning and project implementation; it also specifies that the government will establish an Investment Support Fund from corporate income tax revenue to stabilize the investment environment, encourage and attract strategic investors, multinational corporations, and support domestic enterprises in certain fields that need investment encouragement.

Amendments to the Law on Securities, Law on Accounting, Law on Independent Auditing, Law on State Budget, Law on Management and Use of Public Assets, Law on Tax Management, and Law on National Reserve

Key changes that businesses need to note include: The Law on Securities has been amended to enhance transparency and efficiency in securities issuance and sale, while strengthening supervision and addressing fraudulent activities in these areas. The Law on Accounting has also been adjusted to improve accounting standards, support digital transformation, reduce procedures, and enhance state management capacity in this field. The amended Law on Independent Auditing aims to improve audit quality and expand the scope of mandatory audits. The Law on State Budget adds mechanisms allowing localities to use the budget for infrastructure investment, while the Law on Management of Public Assets has been adjusted to enhance decentralization and the effectiveness of public asset management. The Law on Tax Management has been amended to resolve some issues regarding mechanisms and policies to improve tax management efficiency and create resources for socio-economic development.

Changes related to the Law on Value Added Tax 2024

The Law on Value Added Tax 2024 consists of 17 articles and will take effect from July 1, 2025.

(1) The determination of VAT for goods: the time of transfer of ownership or usage rights to the buyer or the time of invoicing, regardless of whether payment has been received;

(2) The determination of VAT for services: the time of completion of service provision or the time of invoicing for services, regardless of whether payment has been received.

Regarding leasing policy, some items have been removed from the list of those exempt from VAT, including fertilizers, machinery, and specialized equipment for agricultural production, offshore fishing vessels, securities custody, and services organizing markets at stock exchanges or securities transaction centers. It also adds some items exempt from VAT, such as imported goods for donations and support for disaster relief, epidemics, and wars, as stipulated by the government. It clarifies the application of the 0% tax rate for exported goods and services, such as goods sold from Vietnam to foreign individuals or organizations for consumption outside of Vietnam, goods sold at duty-free shops, and services directly provided to foreign individuals or organizations for consumption outside Vietnam, etc.

Key contents of the Law on Data 2024

The Law consists of 5 chapters and 46 articles and will take effect from July 1, 2025. The recently passed Law stipulates the transfer and processing of cross-border data, allowing agencies, organizations, and individuals to freely transfer data from abroad to Vietnam and process foreign data in Vietnam, with legal protections for their rights and legitimate interests. The transfer and processing of cross-border data, such as transferring data stored in Vietnam to foreign organizations or individuals, or to data storage systems outside Vietnam, will be regulated in detail by the government. The Law also includes provisions for establishing a National Data Center and regulations for a “data exchange” to establish a data market gradually, promote the development of data-related products and services, and facilitate digital transformation.

Amendments to Law on Notarization 2024

The Law consists of 8 chapters and 76 articles, effective from July 1, 2025. An important new point of the amended Law on Notarization 2024 is the regulation of criteria for transactions that must be notarized and the addition of provisions for electronic notarization. Establishing criteria for transactions that must be notarized—important transactions requiring a high level of legal safety—will help unify applications across the entire legal system in Vietnam.

The Ministry of Justice is also tasked with reviewing, updating, and publishing notarized transactions on its electronic portal. Regarding the operation of Notary Offices, in addition to the usual form of a partnership (with two or more notaries), the amended Law also allows Notary Offices to operate as sole proprietorships (with one notary) in districts facing difficulties in establishing Notary Offices.

In terms of compensation for damages in notarization activities, notary organizations must compensate clients and other individuals or organizations for damages caused by their notaries or staff during the notarization process. Additionally, the amended Law retains the provision for mandatory professional liability insurance for notaries and revises training regulations for notaries, including the duration of practical training and age requirements for practicing notaries.

Furthermore, the new and amended laws passed by the National Assembly during the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly include the amended Law on Trade Unions 2024, Law on Civil Defense Law,2024, amendments to the Law on Health Insurance 2024, amended Law on Cultural Heritage 2024, amendments to the Law on Pharmaceuticals 2024, amendments to the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People’s Army 2024, Law on Prevention and Combat of Human Trafficking (amended) 2024, Law on Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting, and Rescue 2024, Law on Justice for Minors 2024, and amended Law on Electricity 2024. These legal documents continue to reflect changes in legislative activities in Vietnam as a whole, as well as the need for changes in each specific legal normative document. They also demonstrate a “strong spirit of innovation in legislative thinking, ensuring state management requirements while encouraging creativity, unleashing production capacity, and mobilizing all resources for development; legal regulations must be stable and long-lasting; enhance decentralization and delegation of authority; thoroughly reduce and simplify administrative procedures, conditions for investment and production, and reduce compliance costs, creating maximum convenience for citizens and businesses.”

04 resolutions, among the 21 resolutions approved, with normative legal provisions

Resolution on piloting certain measures for handling physical evidence and assets during the investigation of criminal cases

This resolution aims to meet practical requirements related to the timely and effective handling of physical evidence without affecting the proof and resolution of cases, enabling the quick remediation of damages, and allowing for the utilization and exploitation of assets to facilitate development while avoiding losses and waste.

Resolution on piloting commercial housing projects through agreements on land use rights or currently held land use rights

This resolution is applied to pilot commercial housing projects involving various types of land, such as agricultural land, non-agricultural land that is not residential, residential land, and other land types. It covers real estate projects acquiring land use rights, currently held land use rights, and projects on land that need to be relocated due to environmental pollution or urban planning.

Resolution on organizing urban governance in Haiphong City

This resolution aims to institutionalize the goal of building an urban government with a streamlined apparatus that operates effectively and efficiently, maximizing potential and advantages in line with the practical situation and development orientation of Haiphong City.

Resolution on special mechanisms to resolve difficulties and obstacles regarding projects and land in inspection conclusions, and judgments in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang City, and Khanh Hoa Province

This resolution helps to unlock land resources and promote the socio-economic development of the country, especially in localities with significant potential for investment projects and land development, but where implementation is currently facing many obstacles.

Note: This article is published with the aim of summarizing and providing reference information to businesses, organizations, and individuals regarding the laws and resolutions recently approved in the 8th Session of the XV National Assembly and does not constitute official legal advice. The article refers to draft documents, law proposals, resolutions, and information from agencies such as the National Assembly, the Government, and media outlets.

APPENDIX

NEW DOCUMENTS APPROVED