On 2 June 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (“MoIT”) issued Circular No. 29/2026/TT-BCT, effective 20 July 2026, regulating the operation of Vietnam’s Competitive Wholesale Electricity Market (“VWEM”), replacing the previous wholesale market framework and incorporating a number of reforms introduced following the Electricity Law 2024, to be amended. While Circular 29 may initially appear to be a technical market-operation regulation, its significance extends well beyond dispatch and settlement procedures. The Circular reflects the […]
Category: Legal Update
Vietnam Simplifies Market Entry and Licensing Rules for M&A Merger Control, Energy, Alcohol, Tobacco and Trade Sectors
Posted on May 25, 2026 in Legal Update by VILAF
The Government has recently issued a number of resolutions aimed at decentralizing authority and reducing and simplifying administrative procedures and business conditions across various sectors. This article highlights certain notable changes introduced by Resolution No. 66.18/2026/NQ-CP (“Resolution 66.18”) and Resolution No. 19/2026/NQ-CP (“Resolution 19”) affecting energy, petroleum, M&A merger control, and foreign invested trade business activities under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (the “MOIT”). Note that this article does not capture […]
VILAF Legal Bulletin: May 2026
Posted on May 11, 2026 in Legal Update by VILAF
1. Multi-level marketing business On 7 April 2026, the Government issued Decree No. 137/2026/ND-CP (“Decree 137”) on management of multi-level marketing business. Decree 137 takes effect from 1 July 2026 and replaces Decree No. 40/2018/ND-CP dated 12 March 2018, as amended (“Decree 40”). Below are the noteworthy points of Decree 137. Eligible goods/products for multi-level marketing Similar to Decree 40, under Decree 137, multi-level marketing (“MLM”) business could only be applied to goods. Any business […]
Vietnam’s electricity market is no longer undergoing incremental reform—it is being fundamentally restructured. This guide examines the legal and systemic transformation introduced by Circular 36/2025/TT-BCT, an instrument that, while formally framed as an amendment to the competitive wholesale electricity market, in substance redefines the underlying logic through which the market operates. Rather than refining existing mechanisms, the reform reorders the hierarchy of dispatch, integrates contractual and policy constraints into system architecture, and recalibrates the allocation […]
Decree No. 112/2026/NĐ-CP, issued on 1 April 2026, marks Vietnam’s formal entry into the legal architecture of international carbon markets, following its launch of the Carbon Exchange in January, 2026. It is not simply an implementing regulation under environmental law. It is the first instrument that defines, in operational terms, how emission reduction results and carbon credits generated in Vietnam—including those recognised as internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs)—may be accounted for and transferred across borders. […]