On 26 October 2025, the United States and Vietnam concluded a framework agreement aimed at establishing reciprocal, fair, and balanced trade relations. The final commitments are expected to be signed and ratified by both parties before the end of 2025.
This framework introduces comprehensive commitments across digital trade, services and investment, intellectual property, labor, environment, customs and trade facilitation, regulatory practices, and state-owned enterprise conduct. It includes reciprocal tariff arrangements, preferential market access for US exports, and the removal of technical barriers affecting US goods. These developments reflect a strategic effort to deepen bilateral economic cooperation while aligning regulatory standards and market access terms.

Vietnam’s draft AI Law, released for public consultation, aims to establish a comprehensive governance framework by January 2026. It introduces phased implementation, risk-based classification, role-driven accountability, and obligations for general-purpose AI. The law promotes innovation through incentives and sandboxes, and enforces strict penalties for violations, including revenue-based fines. Businesses in high-risk sectors like finance and health will face increased scrutiny. Stakeholders are urged to submit feedback before the National Assembly’s session on 20 October 2025.

The Vietnamese authorities recently released two draft laws, including the draft Data Law and the draft Law on Digital Technology Industry, for public comments. These proposed laws seek to address various issues in the fields of data and digital technology, with the potential to significantly impact businesses across various industries.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) is drafting a decree on medical data management (“Draft Decree”) to establish a legal framework for (i) medical data management and development, (i) the establishment of the National Medical Database, and (iii) detailing the implementation of electronics health records and health books.

The Draft Decree is currently open for public consultation until 3 August 2024.

On 11 June 2024, the minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam issued Decision 1290/QD-BKHCN providing guidance on principles for researching and developing responsible artificial intelligence (AI) systems (“Decision”). This Decision, which came into effect immediately upon issuance, is included with Version 1.0 of the Guide on Principles for Researching and Developing Responsible AI Systems (“Guide”). It is essential to highlight that the Guide is established as a voluntary standard rather than a mandatory rule.

On 16 May 2024, the Government issued Decree No. 55/2024/ND-CP providing guidance on the 2023 Consumer Law. This decree specifies selected articles in detail, aiming at enhancing consumer protection and regulating diverse commercial environments in Vietnam. This decree will come into effect on 1 July 2024, coinciding with the Consumer Law’s commencement, and will be implemented immediately without a grace period.

The government and Ministry of Planning and Investment is currently working on the draft resolution of the National Assembly (NA) to amend the NA’s existing Resolution No. 119/2020/QH14 on “the pilot implementation of the urban governance model and various mechanisms and policies for the development of Da Nang city.”

The implementation of the new Law on Telecommunications, effective on 1 July 2024, requires a decree from the government to provide guidance and further details on various issues. On 2 February 2024, the Ministry of Information and Communications published a draft version of the decree guiding the New Telecom Law to collect public comments. The deadline for public comments is 2 April 2024.

The Vietnam Ministry of Public Security (MPS) published on 29 February 2024 its first version of the dossier proposing the development of the Law on Personal Data Protection (“PDP Law”) on the government’s official website for public consultation. This is one of the initial steps to kick off the drafting and enactment processes of the new Vietnam PDP Law.

The terms “data” and “digital data” have prominently surfaced in the discussions of policymakers and policy advocates. The year 2024 may signify the start of a comprehensive transformation in the data policy landscape in Vietnam, with the proposals of several key laws.