Looking Back: 2021
2021 was a challenging year for Vietnam. To contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, , the State enforced lockdowns for several months. This resulted in significant disruptions to the manufacturing and supply chains.
However, the pandemic did not hamper the drive of the Government in pushing out legislation on spotlighted industries or sectors. This includes the sub-sectors of Vietnam's digital economy. 2021 saw the Government enact or publish draft regulations to cover areas such as personal data protection, e-commerce, internet services and online content, cross-border advertising, and telecommunications.
Vietnam's future power development remained a topic of considerable interest in 2021 – particularly as to whether the Government would continue to drive clean energy as a major power source for the future. Investors closely monitored the numerous iterations of the proposed National Power Development Plan VIII. Project owners also continue to monitor the transitional treatment of their projects that remain under construction or have otherwise yet to have achieved commercial operational date by the feed-in-tariff (FiT) deadlines.
Other key important developments relate to:
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the implementation of some provisons of the Law on Investment 2020;
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the implemention of the Labour Code 2019; and
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the regulation of foreign employees working in Vietnam, and the recruitment of Vietnamese employees working for foreign employers in Vietnam.
Gazing Into: 2022
Despite the pandemic challenges faced in 2021, the Government has since shifted its COVID-19 policy direction with a view to "living with the virus". Compounded with a strengthening vaccine drive, our outlook for 2022 is optimistic.
Draft pieces of legislation that were slated to be enacted by the end of 2021 are likely to come into fruition in 2022. These include regulations on personal data protection, internet services and online content, and cybersecurity. It is expected that companies will be reviewing their existing data protection compliance policies to align with the upcoming regulations.
In the clean energy sector, the National Power Development Plan VIII is expected to be passed. In addition, the substantive provisions of the Law on Environmental Protection (which was passed in 2020) have come into effect from 1 January 2022. Among others, this will introduce more concrete policies on an emission trading system.
Full Report
Click on the link below for the full report which provides summaries of the key legal developments related to the above areas.
