Vietnam IFC Regulation Tracker

The founding instrument. Establishes the IFC as a single centre operating in two locations, HCMC and Da Nang, under one model for governance, supervision and operation. Reported as six chapters and 35 articles. Special mechanisms span banking and FX, capital markets, tax, employment, land, fintech pilots, trade and dispute resolution. English use in specified VIFC contexts. The framework permits or recognises English in specified documents, proceedings or operating contexts. This is not a general exemption from Vietnamese-language, translation, notarisation, certification or filing requirements. The applicable instrument, document type and procedure must be checked separately.

Record the exact article, document category and implementation source for each English-language proposition. An accessible English translation is not the controlling legal text unless the competent authority establishes otherwise.

Implements the institutional structure — the Executive Council, the operating model, and the membership gateway through which entities join the centre. This is the decree that determines how a foreign entity actually becomes an IFC member rather than simply a company in Vietnam. Seven chapters plus an appendix listing prioritised sectors.

Sets the incentive regime and the membership registration procedure — the legal gateway to everything else in the framework. Nine chapters and 77 articles per the English text; advisory summaries said 76. CIT figures below checked against Arts. 1–11 of the English text on 3 Aug 2026: priority IFC projects receive 10% corporate income tax for 30 years, up to four years exempt and nine at half rate; non-priority projects 15% for 15 years, up to two years exempt and four at half rate (Art. 7.1). The PIT exemption through end-2030 covers Vietnamese nationals as well as foreigners (Art. 7.2(a)) and extends to gains on transfers of shares and capital contributions in Members, excluding listed stocks and warrants (Art. 7.2(b)). The exemption’s eligibility test (Art. 7.2(c)) is a different standard from the visa-track criteria in Decree 327 — qualifying for one does not qualify for the other. The regulatory sandbox is not in Arts. 1–11 despite widespread attribution to this decree; it sits in Chapter VI at Art. 65. English text published by the VIFC Da Nang Executive Agency.

Read in full against the English text 3 Aug 2026. No cap on the ratio of foreign employees (Art. 3.2) and no labor-market test (Art. 8.1). Where a work permit applies it runs up to 10 years (Art. 9); Article 8 provides a three-working-day processing period after a complete dossier. Decree 325 Article 5.1(a) provides a work-permit exemption for the specified UD1 visa category, and Article 6.2 requires an employer notice at least three working days before work begins, with the stated notice fields. Those provisions do not, by themselves, establish all current operational requirements, implementation handling or a unified individual outcome.

Land allocation, land use rights, construction and environmental compliance for IFC projects. Relevant to infrastructure and real-estate development inside the centre; largely peripheral for fintech and services entrants. English text now located — published by the VIFC Da Nang Executive Agency.

Visas and temporary residence cards for foreign investors, experts, scientists, managers and skilled workers at IFC-headquartered entities, and for their family members. Duration is up to 10 years; Article 4.3 provides a three-working-day processing period after receipt of a complete dossier. Permanent residence exists but is revocable: the immigration agency invalidates granted PR cards when the holder stops working at an IFC organisation or the Executive Agency “no longer wishes to provide sponsorship” (Arts. 7, 8.3). The PR track is also narrower than the visa track — senior managers qualify, skilled workers do not — and the dossier requires a diplomatic note from the applicant’s own embassy (Art. 6.1(c)). It is a statutory permanent-residence route with category, continuous-work and official-recommendation conditions; Arts. 7–8 also make continued eligibility and Executive Agency sponsorship material to retention.

Establishes the International Arbitration Centre of the IFC, licensed by the Ministry of Justice on application by at least five founders who meet the statutory qualifications, with jurisdiction over investment and business activity within the centre. Sits alongside the specialised court as the second half of the dispute-resolution architecture; the split between them determines where a contract dispute actually lands. English text now located — published by the VIFC Da Nang Executive Agency.

The operational core for anyone running regulated financial activity in the centre. Governs bank licensing and operations, foreign exchange management, and anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorist-financing and counter-proliferation-financing obligations inside the IFC. This is where KYC, sanctions screening and audit-trail requirements are set.

Establishment and operation of commodity exchanges and trading platforms within the IFC, and import–export and goods-and-services distribution policy. Commentary notes that certain digital cultural and artistic products are treated as permitted commodities. The digital-asset perimeter here is unsettled and moving. English text now located — published by the VIFC Da Nang Executive Agency.

Decree 219/2025/ND-CP is recorded as a related dependency, but its primary text has not yet cleared this publication’s read-and-claim gate. No substantive conclusion in this record relies on it.

Decree 221/2025/ND-CP is recorded as a related dependency, but its primary text has not yet cleared this publication’s read-and-claim gate. No substantive conclusion in this record relies on it.

Creates a specialised court at the IFC in Ho Chi Minh City with first-instance and appellate functions. Judges may be Vietnamese or foreign citizens, subject to criteria including investment and business law experience and English proficiency — a meaningful signal for foreign counterparties assessing enforcement risk. No English text located.