VIETNAM

Enactment of the New Law on Intellectual Property (Amendment)

On 16 June 2022, the National Assembly passed the Amended Law on Intellectual Property, which will introduce significant changes to the existing 2005 law. Save for some limited provisions, the amended law will come into effect on 1 January 2023.

In the field of copyright and related rights, the amending law expands the scope of permitted use of such rights. It also provides clarity on the extent of an intermediary's liability for infringement, as well as applicable safe harbour principles.

In the field of trademarks, the amending law now enables the protection of sound marks. This provision was introduced in line with Vietnam's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The amending law also introduces further regulations that facilitate the enforcement of IP rights by aggrieved parties. These include regulations relating to the express right of the authorities to levy administration sanctions for violations of the amended law.

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Enactment of the Law on Cinema

On 15 June 2022, the National Assembly passed the Law on Cinema, to replace the existing (and arguably outdated) 2006 law. The new law will come into effect from 1 January 2023.

One of the more significant changes introduced by the law is that it now regulates – with greater clarity – companies that engage in distributing films in cyberspace (i.e. online). These include, in particular, digital media platforms that may be involved in the dissemination of films. It requires such companies to comply with Vietnam's content regulations and generally coordinate with the state agencies to remove infringing materials.

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Minimum Wage Increase

On 12 June 2022, the Government passed Decree 38/2022/ND-CP prescribing the following new region-based minimum wages, which came into effect on 1 July 2022:

1. Region I (which includes cities such as Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi): the minimum wage will be increased to VND 4.68 million per month (previously VND 4.42 million);
2. Region II, the minimum wage will be VND 4.16 million per month (previously VND 3.92 million);
3. Region III, the minimum wage will be VND 3.64 million per month (previously VND 3.43 million); and
4. Region IV, the minimum wage will be VND 3.25 million per month (previously VND 3.07 million).

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Second Draft Decree of the Regulatory Sandbox on FinTech

On 5 April 2022, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) released its second draft of the decree on the FinTech regulatory sandbox for public consultation – nearly two years after the first draft was released. The draft is more comprehensive in terms of the eligibility criteria and licensing requirements for prospective sandbox participants.

Under the draft, the following six product categories are eligible for inclusion in the sandbox: (i) providing credit on a technology platform; (ii) credit scoring; (iii) data sharing via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs); (iv) peer-to-peer (P2P) lending; (v) blockchain or distributed ledger technology in banking activities; and (vi) other technologies in banking operations that implement innovative business cooperation models.

The draft makes it clear that only Vietnam-established organisations can participate in the sandbox. It also makes it clear that only products that are not regulated by Vietnamese law will be subject to the sandbox. This means certain FinTech products for which the Government has developed (or is developing) specific regulations will not be subject to the sandbox (e.g. electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC)).

It remains to be seen when the decree will be enacted, and whether further amendments will be made to this current draft.

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Tightened Supervision Over Foreign Investments Under Circular 02/2022/TT-BKHDHT

On 1 April 2022, Circular 02/2022/TT-BKHDHT (guiding the supervision and assessment of foreign investments) came into force.

In this circular, the Ministry of Planning and Investment directs investment authorities to tightly monitor foreign-funded projects and investments of foreign-invested entities. This includes periodically inspecting, among others, the progress of capital contribution, progress of project implementation, and the financial position of foreign-invested enterprises.

In practice, this has seen a significant, increased scrutiny of the performance of investment projects by investors. For example, investment authorities have now taken to closely monitoring and expecting investors to comply with their periodic reporting obligations.

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