List of Prohibited and Conditional Business Lines in Vietnam

Under the Vietnam Investment Law 2020, below is the List of Prohibited and Conditional Business Lines in Vietnam, divided into 2 parts: a prohibited list and a conditional list.

PROHIBITED LIST:

1.  Trade in narcotic substances specified in Appendix I to the Law;

2.  Trade in chemicals and minerals specified in Appendix II to the Law;

3.  Trade in specimens of wild fauna and flora species specified in Appendix I to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which are exploited from the nature; specimens of endangered, precious and rare forest fauna and flora species and aquatic species of Group I specified in Appendix III to the Law, which are exploited from the nature;

4.  Prostitution;

5.  Trafficking in humans or human tissues, corpses, organs or fetuses;

6.  Business activities related to human cloning;

7.  Trade in firecrackers;

8.  Provision of debt collection services.


CONDITIONAL LIST (Appendix IV):

No.

Business lines

1

Making seals

2

Trading in supporting tools (including also repair thereof)

3

Trading in assorted fireworks, except firecrackers 

4

Trading in camouflage equipment and software used for sound recording, image recording and positioning

5

Trading in paintball guns

6

Trading in military equipment for armed forces, military weapons, equipment and devices, techniques, ammunition and vehicles exclusively used for military and public security forces; components; spare parts, accessories, supplies and special-type equipment, and specialized technologies for manufacture thereof 

7

Provision of pawn services

8

Provision of massage services

9

Trading in signaling devices of priority vehicles

10

Provision of security services

11

Provision of fire prevention and fighting services

12

Law practice

13

Notarial practice

14

Judicial assessment practice in the fields of finance, banking, construction, antiques, relics and copyright

15

Property auction practice

16

Bailiff profession practice

17

Practice of management and liquidation of assets of enterprises and cooperatives during the process of bankruptcy settlement

18

Provision of accounting services

19

Provision of auditing services

20

Provision of tax procedure performance services

21

Provision of customs clearance services

22

Trading in duty-free goods

23

Commercial operation of bonded warehouses and container freight stations

24

Commercial operation of places for customs clearance, goods gathering and customs inspection and supervision

25

Securities trading

26

Provision of securities registration, depository, clearing and payment services by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation or organization of exchanges for listed securities and securities of other types

27

Insurance business

28

Reinsurance business

29

Insurance brokerage and ancillary insurance activities

30

Insurance agency

31

Provision of price appraisal services

32

Lottery business

33

Business of prize-winning electronic games for foreigners

34

Provision of credit rating services

35

Casino business

36

Betting business

37

Provision of voluntary pension fund management services

38

Petrol and oil trading

39

Gas trading

40

Provision of commercial assessment services

41

Trading in industrial explosives (including also destruction thereof)

42

Trading in explosive precursors

43

Dealing in sectors and trades involving the use of industrial explosives and explosive precursors

44

Provision of blasting services

45

Trading in chemicals, except those banned under the International Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction

46

Liquor trading

47

Trading in tobacco products, tobacco materials or machinery and equipment of the tobacco industry

48

Trading in food subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Industry and Trade

49

Operation of goods exchanges

50

Electricity generation, transmission, distribution, wholesale and retail activities and provision of electrical consultancy services

51

Rice export

52

Temporary import for re-export of excise tax-liable goods

53

Temporary import for re-export of frozen food

54

Temporary import for re-export of goods on the List of used goods

55

Trading in minerals

56

Trading in industrial precursors

57

Goods purchase and sale activities and related activities of foreign service providers in Vietnam

58

Multi-level marketing

59

E-commerce activities

60

Petroleum activities

61

Energy auditing

62

Vocational education activities

63

Quality inspection of vocational education

64

Provision of occupational skill assessment services

65

Provision of occupational safety-related technical inspection services

66

Provision of occupational safety and health-related training services

67

Provision of employment services

68

Provision of the service of sending guest workers

69

Provision of services related to voluntary drug rehabilitation, smoking cessation, HIV/AIDS treatment, and care of the elderly, people with disabilities and children

70

Provision of labor outsourcing services

71

Road transport business

72

Provision of car warranty and maintenance services

73

Car manufacture, assembly and import

74

Provision of motor vehicle inspection services

75

Provision of car driver training services

76

Provision of traffic safety inspector training services

77

Provision of driver testing services

78

Provision of traffic safety inspection services

79

Waterway transport business

80

Provision of inland waterway craft building, conversion, repair and restoration services

81

Provision of inland waterway craft crewmember and operator training services

82

Maritime crewmember training, recruitment and supply

83

Provision of maritime safety assurance services

84

Ocean shipping business

85

Provision of ship towage services

86

Import and demolition of used ships

87

Provision of ship building, conversion and repair services

88

Commercial operation of seaports

89

Air transport business

90

Provision of services of designing, manufacturing, maintaining and testing aircraft, aircraft engines, aircraft propellers and aircraft equipment and devices in Vietnam

91

Commercial operation of airports and aerodromes

92

Provision of aviation services at airports and aerodromes

93

Provision of flight assurance services

94

Provision of aviation staff training services

95

Railway transport business

96

Commercial operation of railway infrastructure facilities

97

Commercial operation of urban railways

98

Provision of multimodal transport services

99

Provision of hazardous cargo transport services

100

Pipeline transport business

101

Real estate business 

102

Clean water (domestic water) trading

103

Provision of architectural services

104

Provision of construction investment project management consultancy services 

105

Provision of construction surveying services

106

Provision of construction designing and construction design verification services

107

Provision of  work construction supervision consultancy services

108

Provision of work construction services

109

Construction activities of foreign contractors

110

Provision of construction investment cost management services

111

Provision of construction inspection services

112

Provision of specialized construction testing services          

113

Provision of condominium operation management services

114

Provision of crematory management and operation services

115

Provision of construction master plan-designing services  

116

Trading in white asbestos products of the Serpentine sub-group

117

Provision of postal services

118

Provision of telecommunications services

119

Provision of digital signature certification services 

120

Operation of publishing houses

121

Provision of printing services, except printing of packings

122

Provision of publication distribution services

123

Provision of social networking services

124

Gaming services in telecommunications networks and the Internet

125

Provision of pay radio and television services

126

Provision of website development services

127

Services of processing, recycling, repair or renewal of used information technology products on the List of used information technology products banned from import for foreign partners

128

Provision of information content services in mobile telecommunications networks and the Internet

129

Provision of domain name registration and maintenance services

130

Provision of data center services

131

Provision of electronic identification and authentication services

132

Trading in or provision of cyberinformation security products and services

133

Provision of imported newspaper distribution services

134

Trading in or provision of civil cryptography products and services

135

Trading in mobile phone jammers 

136

Operation of early childhood education institutions

137

Operation of general education institutions

138

Operation of higher education institutions

139

Operation of foreign-invested educational institutions, representative offices of foreign educational institutions in Vietnam, and branches of foreign-invested educational institutions

140

Operation of continuing education institutions

141

Operation of specialized schools

142

Joint training with foreign partners

143

Educational quality inspection

144

Provision of overseas study counseling services

145

Fishing

146

Trading in aquatic products

147

Trading in aquatic feeds and animal feeds

148

Provision of aquatic feed and animal feed testing services

149

Trading in bio-preparations, microorganisms, chemicals and environmental treatment substances in aquaculture and animal husbandry

150

Fishing ship building and conversion business

151

Fishing ship registration and inspection

152

Training and further training of fishing ships’ crewmembers

153

Breeding and planting of wild fauna or flora species specified in the Appendices to the CITES and the list of endangered, precious and rare species of forest plants and animals and aquatic animals

154

Breeding of common forest animals

155

Export, import, re-export, transit, and introduction from the sea of specimens from the nature of the species specified in the Appendices to the CITES  and the list of endangered, precious and rare species of forest plants and animals and aquatic animals

156

Export, import and re-export of specimens of bred or reared animals or artificially propagated plants of the species specified in the Appendices to the CITES and the list of endangered, precious and rare species of forest plants and animals and aquatic animals

157

Processing, trading, transport, advertising, display and storage of specimens of the fauna and flora species specified in the Appendices to the CITES and the list of endangered, precious and rare species of forest plants and animals and aquatic animals

158

Trading in pesticides

159

Provision of the service of treatment of objects subject to plant quarantine

160

Provision of pesticide testing services

161

Provision of plant protection services

162

Trading in veterinary drugs, vaccines, bio-preparations, microorganisms and chemicals for use in animal health

163

Provision of animal health-related technical services

164

Provision of animal testing and surgery services

165

Provision of vaccination, diagnosis, prescription, cure and heathcare services for animals

166

Provision of experiment and testing services for veterinary drugs (including veterinary drugs, veterinary drugs for aquatic animals, vaccines, bio-preparations, microorganisms and chemicals for use in animal health and aquatic animal health)

167

Trading in farm-based animal husbandry

168

Trading in cattle and poultry slaughtering

169

Trading in food subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

170

Provision of animal and animal product isolation and quarantine services

171

Fertilizer trading

172

Provision of fertilizer testing services

173

Trading in plant varieties and animal breeds

174

Trading in aquatic breeds

175

Provision of plant variety and animal breed testing services

176

Provision of aquatic breed testing services

177

Provision of experiment and testing services for bio-preparations, microorganisms, chemicals and environmental treatment substances in aquaculture and animal husbandry

178

Trading in genetically modified products

179

Provision of medical examination and treatment services

180

Provision of cosmetic surgery services

181

Pharmacy business

182

Cosmetics production

183

Trading in insecticidal and germicidal chemicals and preparations for household and medical use

184

Trading in medical equipment and devices

185

Provision of intellectual property-related assessment services (including assessment of copyright and related rights, industrial property assessment and assessment of rights to plant varieties)

186

Provision of the service of performance of radiation jobs

187

Provision of atomic energy application support services

188

Provision of conformity assessment services

189

Provision of services of inspection, calibration and testing of measuring devices and measurement standards

190

Provision of technology assessment, price appraisal and assessment services

191

Provision of intellectual property rights representation services (including industrial property representation services and representation services of rights to plant varieties)

192

Provision of film distribution and dissemination services

193

Provision of antique assessment services

194

Provision of services of formulation of master plans, and construction organization and supervision for, projects on preservation, embellishment and restoration of relics

195

Provision of karaoke or discotheque services

196

Provision of travel services

197

Dealing in sports activities of sports enterprises and professional sports clubs

198

Provision of art performance, fashion show, and beauty or model contest organization services

199

Dealing in phonograms or video recordings of songs, dances and dramas

200

Provision of accommodation services

201

Purchase and sale of national relics, antiques and treasures

202

Export of relics and antiques not under ownership of the State or ownership of political organizations or socio-political organizations; import of cultural goods subject to specialized management by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

203

Provision of museum services

204

Dealing in electronic games (except prize-winning electronic games for foreigners and online prize-winning electronic games)

205

Provision of land survey and valuation consultancy services

206

Provision of land use master plan and plan formulation services

207

Provision of services of construction of information technology technical infrastructure and development of software of land information systems

208

Provision of land database development services

209

Provision of land valuation services

210

Provision of survey and mapping services

211

Provision of hydrometeorological forecasting and warning services

212

Provision of groundwater drilling and exploration services

213

Provision of services of exploiting and using water resources, and discharging wastewater into water sources

214

Provision of services of baseline surveys and consultancy for formulation of master plans, schemes and reports on water resources

215

Provision of mineral exploration services

216

Mineral mining

217

Provision of hazardous waste transport and treatment services

218

Scrap import

219

Provision of environmental monitoring services

220

Business operations of commercial banks

221

Business operations of non-bank credit institutions

222

Business operations of cooperative banks, people’s credit funds and microfinance institutions

223

Provision of intermediary payment services and payment services without using customers’ payment accounts

224

Provision of credit information services

225

Business operations of, and provision of foreign exchange services by, non-credit institutions

226

Gold trading

227

Banknote printing and coin minting

 

The Law (full text): https://vbpl.vn/TW/Pages/vbpqen-toanvan.aspx?ItemID=11133

Pinklaw Vietnam