The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) releases the 2025 Business Law Flow Report on June 2, 2026__Photo: VNA

Vietnam’s business law framework underwent sweeping changes in 2025, helping support economic growth of 8.02 per cent despite global uncertainties, according to the latest Business Law Flow Report released on June 2 by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

The report marks the ninth consecutive year that VCCI has tracked key progress in the country’s legal and regulatory environment for businesses.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, VCCI Chairman Ho Sy Hung said the 2025 report reviews major changes in the business legal system, evaluates their impact on the investment climate and business environment, and captures recommendations from the private sector on institutional reforms and law enforcement.

A defining feature of the year was the Politburo's issuance of four major resolutions covering science, technology and innovation, international integration, law-making and law enforcement reform, and private sector development. VCCI said the resolutions signalled a broader shift in governance, with policymaking increasingly focused on enabling growth, fostering innovation and unlocking development resources.

The report also highlighted the National Assembly's Resolution 206/2025/QH15 as a landmark development. The resolution allows the Government, for the first time, to issue resolutions that differ from existing legal regulations in order to address urgent regulatory bottlenecks. Within eight months, 15 such resolutions were introduced across areas including planning, land administration, mining, investment, food management, administrative reform, land auctions and social housing.

Among the most notable measures was Resolution 66.7/2025/NQ-CP on data-based administrative reform. Described as one of Vietnam’s largest-ever administrative simplification efforts, the initiative streamlined documentation requirements for more than 760 procedures under the principle that citizens and businesses should not be required to provide information already available to state agencies.

According to Dau Anh Tuan, VCCI Deputy Secretary-General and Director of the Department of Legal Affairs, legislative activity reached an unprecedented level in 2025. The National Assembly approved 89 laws during the year, nearly triple the number adopted in 2024 and more than five times the average of previous years.

Taken together, 120 laws were enacted during 2024-25, surpassing the combined total passed over the previous eight years. Legislative drafting and approval processes were also significantly accelerated.

The report noted that the revamped law-making process has enabled reforms and breakthrough policies to be implemented more quickly. It also pointed to a growing preference for framework legislation, with broader principles established in laws and more detailed provisions delegated to the Government and ministries, allowing greater flexibility in policy implementation.

At the same time, the VCCI stressed the need to balance speed with policy quality and to further strengthen consultation and feedback mechanisms, particularly for the business community, to ensure implementing regulations remain practical and predictable.

The report also examines efforts to remove legal obstacles facing businesses and investors. Based on more than 2,088 complaints and recommendations submitted nationwide, ministries, agencies and local authorities undertook an extensive review process that the VCCI described as unusually responsive and solution-oriented.

According to the report, these efforts have helped narrow the gap between legal requirements and business realities, enabling policies to better reflect actual operating conditions.

Among 787 recognised legal obstacles, 42 per cent were linked to unclear regulations, 36 per cent to provisions that created unnecessary compliance costs or failed to accommodate emerging business models and innovation, while 22 per cent stemmed from overlapping or inconsistent legal documents.

Significantly, most of the identified obstacles were embedded in laws and government decrees themselves, suggesting that substantial opportunities remain for deeper institutional reforms.

For the first time, the report also explores the concept of the “low-altitude economy”, an emerging sector attracting growing global attention as advances in digital technologies, smart logistics and new business models reshape economic activities.

The VCCI said the sector could become an important new growth driver for Vietnam, but unlocking its potential will require a supportive legal framework that encourages innovation, technology testing and the development of new business models.- (VNA/VLLF)