Vietnam signals new direction for foreign investment
On 8 June 2026, Vietnam’s Politburo issued Resolution No. 10-NQ/TW on the development of the foreign-invested economic sector (“Resolution”). The Resolution sets out Vietnam’s strategic direction for attracting, managing, and utilising foreign investment through 2030, with a longer term outlook to 2045. It does not itself amend existing legislation; rather, it directs the National Assembly and the Government to review and improve the relevant laws and to develop an action programme giving effect to its policy direction.
This article provides an overview of some of the Resolution’s key aspects.
“High quality” foreign investment
The Resolution signals a shift from attracting foreign investment based primarily on capital inflows to attracting high-quality investment that contributes to Vietnam’s long-term economic development. It identifies priority investment as that which generates high added value through advanced technology, innovation, research and development, modern governance, digital transformation, efficient resource use, environmental sustainability, technology transfer, skilled employment, and stronger linkages with domestic enterprises. It also seeks to increase Vietnam’s participation in regional and global value chains while enhancing the resilience and competitiveness of the domestic economy.
Reflecting this shift, the Resolution calls for a move from a “capital-attraction” mindset to the development of a national strategic investment platform, and from competition based on administrative boundaries to attracting investment through industry clusters, value chains, and innovation ecosystems.
Continued support for foreign-invested enterprises
The Resolution reaffirms that the foreign-invested economic sector is an important component of Vietnam’s socialist-oriented market economy alongside the state, collective, and private sectors. It further provides that foreign-invested enterprises (“FIEs”) should be encouraged to develop over the long term and compete on an equal and healthy basis with other economic sectors in accordance with the law. This reinforces Vietnam’s continued commitment to an open investment environment, while becoming more selective about the investment it seeks to attract.
Priority sectors for foreign investment
The Resolution identifies a number of priority sectors for attracting foreign investment, reflecting Vietnam's ambition to become a regional hub for advanced manufacturing, technology and high-value services. These include the semiconductor and electronics industries; artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things and blockchain; advanced biotechnology and biomedicine; advanced energy and materials technologies; green industries; modern logistics and supply chain services; financial services; trade; innovation; and other high value-added services. It also contemplates periodic reviews of these priority sectors to ensure they remain aligned with Vietnam's development objectives, international integration commitments, and national interests.
The types of foreign investment Vietnam seeks to attract are also broadened under the Resolution. Beyond manufacturing projects, it encourages investment in regional headquarters, innovation centres, research and development facilities, data centres, treasury and operational centres, and shared service centres capable of integrating Vietnam more deeply into regional and global production, services and financial networks.
The Resolution also signals support for diversifying the forms of foreign investment into Vietnam. In addition to greenfield investment, it encourages investment through joint ventures, partnerships, capital contributions, share acquisitions, and mergers and acquisitions that help improve the technology, management capabilities, market access and workforce skills of Vietnamese enterprises. It also encourages participation by investment funds, financial intermediaries, and other foreign investors in these transactions. This reflects a broader policy objective of using foreign investment not only to inject capital, but also to strengthen the competitiveness and capabilities of domestic businesses.
Alignment with national interests
The Resolution emphasises that foreign investment should be attracted selectively in a manner consistent with Vietnam’s national interests, including national defence, security, public order, and social safety. It also calls for improved mechanisms to identify, assess, and manage risks arising from foreign investment, particularly in sectors with implications for economic security and national interests. While these principles are not new, their prominence in the Resolution suggests that strategic and security considerations are likely to play a more significant role in future investment policy and regulatory oversight.
Greater focus on technology and domestic linkages
The Resolution identifies shortcomings in Vietnam’s existing foreign direct investment (“FDI”) model, including a high proportion of labour-, resource-, land-, and energy-intensive processing and assembly projects, relatively low localisation rates, low domestic value-added, limited technology transfer and weak linkages between FIEs and domestic businesses. It therefore calls for policies encouraging stronger participation by Vietnamese enterprises in global supply chains, greater technology diffusion, and higher domestic value creation, including a national programme to develop domestic suppliers and a supplier-connection platform. The Resolution also envisages policies to facilitate the diffusion of technology and improve the absorptive capacity of Vietnamese enterprises so that domestic businesses can participate more effectively in global production networks.
More selective investment incentives
Rather than offering incentives based primarily on investment size, the Resolution envisages support mechanisms that prioritise investments contributing to innovation, digital transformation, green growth, high technology, and strategic industries. Significantly for investors, it signals a shift from traditional input-based incentives to support tied to the fulfilment of investor commitments across the project lifecycle, together with a post-audit mechanism under which incentives may be revoked where commitments are not met. While further legislative and policy measures will be required to implement these reforms, they are likely to place greater weight on investment quality and measurable, performance-based outcomes.
The Resolution also proposes introducing a set of criteria for evaluating the economic effectiveness of FIEs at both the central and local levels. These criteria would focus on factors such as technology, innovation, workforce development, supplier development, environmental protection, compliance with law, contribution to the state budget and economic security, reinforcing the Resolution's emphasis on the overall quality and long-term contribution of foreign investment.
Quantitative targets through 2030 and 2045
The Resolution establishes a series of quantitative targets intended to measure the effectiveness of the new policy direction. For 2026-2030, these include:
- registered FDI of approximately US$200-300 billion (US$40-50 billion per year) and implemented capital of approximately US$150-200 billion;
- approximately 75% of newly registered FDI to originate from developed economies;
- a 30% increase in the number of Fortune 500 corporations investing in Vietnam, with at least three leading global technology groups establishing headquarters and R&D centres in Vietnam;
- an average localisation rate of 45-50% in key industries;
- approximately 10,000 domestic enterprises participating in the supply chains of FIEs (including 500-1,000 tier-1 suppliers); and
- an upgrade of Vietnam’s stock market to MSCI Emerging Market status before 2030.
By 2045, the foreign-invested sector is targeted to account for approximately 25% of total social investment and to contribute around 30% of GDP.
What this means for investors
The Resolution provides an important indication of the policy direction that is expected to inform future amendments to Vietnam’s investment framework. In particular, investors should expect future reforms to place greater emphasis on the economic contribution of proposed projects, particularly technology transfer, localisation, and supply-chain integration, and a closer alignment between investment incentives and the fulfilment of measurable commitments throughout the investment lifecycle. Businesses considering new investments or expansions in Vietnam should therefore monitor implementing legislation as it emerges and assess whether proposed projects align with the Resolution’s strategic objectives.
