The Vietnamese version is available here.

One year after the Land Law 2024, the Real Estate Business Law 2023, and the Housing Law 2023 came into effect, Vietnam’s real estate legal framework has begun to show both its reform momentum and the challenges of implementation.

Vilasia, in collaboration with The Saigon Times, is pleased to present a series of analytical articles by Vilasia’s Nhung Nguyen, offering a one-year review of how these landmark laws are being implemented in practice. Through real cases and regulatory analysis, the series highlights key issues emerging in areas such as land financial obligations, project transfers, delayed projects, commercial housing development, and project implementation models. The series will aim to provide practitioners, investors, and policymakers with a clearer picture of where the new legal framework is working as intended and where further clarification and adjustment may be needed.

The series focus on five main topics:

(i) Land-Related Financial Obligations: The Strain of Balancing Interests;
(ii) Transfers of Real Estate Projects: Practical Bottlenecks in Implementation;
(iii) Delayed (“Suspended”) Projects: Responsibility Cannot Be Placed Solely on Investors;
(iv) Development and Management of Commercial Housing: Bright Spots and Persistent Bottlenecks; and
(v) Apartment Building Governance: Maintenance Funds Remain a “Hot Spot”.

Below is the second in the series entitled “Transfers of Real Estate Projects: Practical Bottlenecks in Implementation”, originally published in Vietnamese in The Saigon Times on August 17, 2025. The digital version is available here.

Transfers of Real Estate Projects: Practical Bottlenecks in Implementation

(The Saigon Times) – LTS: After one year of implementation, the new laws — the Land Law 2024, the Law on Real Estate Business 2023, and the Housing Law 2023 have been gradually implemented. A series of decrees, circulars, and decisions have been promulgated to provide detailed guidance, thereby establishing a clear legal foundation for project development under the new regulations.

In practice, however, many issues still arise, from inconsistent legal regulations to differences in how various management authorities interpret and apply these regulations. The Saigon Times presents a series of articles that analyze several notable problems in the implementation of these legal documents.

Transfers are still difficult without a land use right certificate

One of the notable new points of the Real Estate Business Law 2023 is that it allows investors to complete a real estate project transfer immediately after fulfilling financial obligations for the land, even without a Land Use Right Certificate (LURC) for the transferred project area[1]. In reality, after fulfilling their financial obligations, investors often have to wait several more months to be granted an LURC. Therefore, this new regulation is expected to significantly shorten the time needed for the procedure, creating favorable conditions for both the transferring and receiving parties and helping to accelerate the progress of real estate projects[2].

To specifically implement this policy, Decree 101/2024/ND-CP, which provides guidelines for the registration of land use rights and ownership of assets attached to land (Decree 101), dedicates Article 43 to detailing the procedure for land use change registration in the case of real estate project transfers. It clearly distinguishes between two cases: (i) the transferring party has been granted an LURC and (ii) the transferring party has not yet been granted an LURC.

Based on Decree 101, provincial-level People’s Committees have reviewed and issued internal procedures to handle this administrative process locally, serving as the basis for specialized authorities to receive and process applications. In Hanoi, the City People’s Committee issued Decision 5630/QD-UBND on October 28, 2024, and Decision 6537/QD-UBND on December 22, 2024, which announced the list of administrative procedures for the land sector in the city. In this list, procedure number 31 clearly demonstrates the spirit of reform by specifying a separate application file for cases where an LURC has not yet been granted. In such a case, the investor only needs to submit documents proving that both the transferring and receiving parties have completed their financial obligations, along with the decision on land allocation, land lease, or permission to change the land use purpose for project implementation.

However, despite these clear regulations, some local authorities, especially land management authorities, remain hesitant when investors have not yet been granted an LURC, especially the land management authorities. These authorities often cite the provisions of the Land Law 2024 regarding the conditions for transferring land use rights, transferring assets attached to land, and transferring land with infrastructure. In all of these cases, the Land Law 2024 requires the investor to be granted an LURC before the transfer can be completed.

The Land Law 2024 governs transactions whose subject is land use rights, whereas the transfer of real estate projects under the Law on Real Estate Business 2023 concerns real estate projects as the subject of the transaction. Therefore, rigidly applying the provisions of the Land Law 2024 to regulate the transfer of real estate projects may easily lead to conflicts with the Law on Real Estate Business 2023, which permits the transfer of projects even when a land use rights certificate has not yet been issued.

As a result, the desire of lawmakers to streamline administrative procedures is being hindered by the rigid interpretation and application of local state authorities, leading to a legal implementation that does not achieve its initial expected effectiveness.

When does the buyer bear the tax burden?

A notable shortcoming arises in cases where a domestic organization receives a real estate project with land leased on an annual payment basis. This issue stems from the changes in the Land Law 2024 and Decree 101 compared to previous regulations in the Land Law 2013 and Decree 43/2014/ND-CP.

Previously, for land leased with annual payments, regardless of whether the receiving party was a domestic or foreign-invested investor, a procedure was required to request a State decision on land recovery from the transferring party and subsequent land allocation to the receiving party to continue the lease (a land lease decision)[3]. Accordingly, land management authorities and tax authorities would determine that the date the land lease decision was issued was the point in time when the receiving party began using the land and when their land lease payments would commence[4]. In other words, the date of the land lease decision marked the transfer of financial obligations related to the land from the transferring party to the receiving party.

However, the current regulations in Decree 101 no longer distinguish between land leased with annual payments and land leased with a one-time payment. Instead, if the receiving party is a domestic enterprise, there will be no land lease decision for the project land, whether the lease is annual or one-time[5].

This new regulation removes the benchmark for the transfer of obligations between the transferor and the transferer – a point that State authorities previously used to begin calculating the financial obligations for the receiving party. Meanwhile, the Land Law 2024 and its guiding documents do not have specific provisions for this unique case[6]. After a period of confusion, instead of using the date of completing the land change registration or a date agreed upon by the parties in the transfer contract, land management authorities in some localities have chosen the date of the decision approving the investor adjustment or the decision permitting the project transfer (the transfer decision) as the transfer date.

Consequently, immediately after a transfer decision is obtained, the receiving party is instantly burdened with financial responsibility for the land plot, even though the parties may not have signed a transfer contract, initiated the handover or takeover of the project, or completed payment. According to regulations, the declaration of non-agricultural land use tax must be made within 30 days from the date the obligation arises[7], which is 30 days from the date the transfer decision is issued. In contrast, the Real Estate Business Law 2023 allows up to 60 days to complete tasks like signing the transfer contract, making payments, and handing over the project[8]. As a result, not a few investors receiving project transfers are fined for late declaration and payment of this tax even before they have a chance to take over the project or review its financial obligations.

This issue does not occur when the receiving party is a foreign-invested enterprise, because the legal process still includes the step of the State recovering and re-allocating the land, which provides a clear and distinct benchmark for determining when the financial obligation arises.

Lack of Uniformity in Value-Added Tax Policy

Real estate project transfers are often high-value transactions, so whether or not Value-Added Tax (VAT) must be declared and paid is a major concern for many investors, especially the receiving party.

In early 2025, the real estate market was stirred by Official Letter No. 416/TCT-CS from the General Department of Taxation (the former), which rejected a proposal from the Binh Duong Provincial Tax Department (the former). The proposal was related to a company not having to declare VAT for a partial project transfer in the Vietnam – Singapore Industrial Park. The General Department of Taxation argued that the transfer for the purpose of continuing to build infrastructure or residential housing is considered a real estate business activity rather than the transfer of a production and business investment project as guided by Article 5.4 of Circular 219/2013/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2013, from the Ministry of Finance[9]. Therefore, the company must declare and pay VAT at a rate of 10% as regulated.

In contrast, also based on Article 5.4 of Circular 219/2013/TT-BTC, the General Department of Taxation had previously issued contradictory guidance. Specifically, in Official Letter 5210/TCT-CS dated December 8, 2015, it confirmed that the transferring party did not have to declare, calculate, and pay VAT for a project transfer, including a real estate project, if these investment projects met the conditions of the Investment Law and served the purpose of producing or trading goods and services subject to VAT (Official Letter 5210).

Based on this Official Letter 5210, for many years, local tax departments (the former) have provided guidance, and in practice, real estate enterprises have generally not declared or paid VAT when transferring real estate projects whose products are subject to VAT.

Thus, the recent guidance from the General Department of Taxation (now the Tax Department) on VAT policy for project transfers is not truly consistent with its prior guidance and current implementation practices. This has left both local tax authorities and real estate enterprises involved in project transfers in a state of confusion, especially for transactions already completed but for which VAT has not yet been declared or paid. For real estate enterprises in particular, having to pay 10% VAT on the total transfer value would be a significant financial burden in the equation of buying and selling real estate projects.

In Conclusion

The effectiveness of legal implementation in recent times is clear. However, reality shows a continued need to adjust and clarify existing regulations, for instance, the provisions on when the receiving party begins to bear financial obligations for the land or whether there is a responsibility to declare and pay VAT when transferring a project.

In addition to completing these regulations, for policies to truly resolve the real estate market’s difficulties and bottlenecks and achieve their intended effectiveness, a flexible, open, and consistent enforcement mindset from specialized management authorities is crucial during the administrative process.

_________________________________________________

(*) Vilasia Law Firm

 [1] Article 40.3 of the Real Estate Business Law 2023

[2] Read our previous analysis of this policy in the article: Real estate project transfer, The Saigon Times, https://thesaigontimes.vn/chuyen-nhuong-du-an-bat-dong-san/ (last accessed on August 3, 2025).

[3] Article 83.2(b) of Decree 43/2014/ND-CP

[4] Article 108 of the Land Law 2013

[5] Article 43.2 of Decree 101/2024/ND-CP

[6] Article 155 of the Land Law 2024

[7] Article 10.3 of Decree 126/2020/ND-CP

[8] Article 10.6 of Decree 96/2024/ND-CP

[9] Article 5.4 of Circular No. 219/2013/TT-BTC stipulates: “Article 5. Cases not subject to VAT declaration and payment… 4. Organizations and individuals transferring an investment project for the production and business of goods and services subject to value-added tax to an enterprise or cooperative.”

One year after the Land Law 2024, the Real Estate Business Law 2023, and the Housing Law 2023 came into effect, Vietnam’s real estate legal framework has begun to show both its reform momentum and the challenges of implementation.

Vilasia, in collaboration with The Saigon Times, is pleased to present a series of analytical articles by Vilasia’s Nhung Nguyen, offering a one-year review of how these landmark laws are being implemented in practice. Through real cases and regulatory analysis, the series highlights key issues emerging in areas such as land financial obligations, project transfers, delayed projects, commercial housing development, and project implementation models. The series will aim to provide practitioners, investors, and policymakers with a clearer picture of where the new legal framework is working as intended and where further clarification and adjustment may be needed.

The series focus on five main topics:

(i) Land-Related Financial Obligations: The Strain of Balancing Interests;
(ii) Transfers of Real Estate Projects: Practical Bottlenecks in Implementation;
(iii) Delayed (“Suspended”) Projects: Responsibility Cannot Be Placed Solely on Investors;
(iv) Development and Management of Commercial Housing: Bright Spots and Persistent Bottlenecks; and
(v) Apartment Building Governance: Maintenance Funds Remain a “Hot Spot”.

Below is the second in the series entitled “Transfers of Real Estate Projects: Practical Bottlenecks in Implementation”, originally published in Vietnamese in The Saigon Times on August 17, 2025. The digital version is available here.

Bài 2 - Chuyển nhượng DA

The Vietnamese version is available here.

One year after the Land Law 2024, the Real Estate Business Law 2023, and the Housing Law 2023 came into effect, Vietnam’s real estate legal framework has begun to show both its reform momentum and the challenges of implementation.

Vilasia, in collaboration with The Saigon Times, is pleased to present a series of analytical articles by Vilasia’s Nhung Nguyen, offering a one-year review of how these landmark laws are being implemented in practice. Through real cases and regulatory analysis, the series highlights key issues emerging in areas such as land financial obligations, project transfers, delayed projects, commercial housing development, and project implementation models. The series will aim to provide practitioners, investors, and policymakers with a clearer picture of where the new legal framework is working as intended and where further clarification and adjustment may be needed.

The series focus on five main topics:

(i) Land-Related Financial Obligations: The Strain of Balancing Interests;
(ii) Transfers of Real Estate Projects: Practical Bottlenecks in Implementation;
(iii) Delayed (“Suspended”) Projects: Responsibility Cannot Be Placed Solely on Investors;
(iv) Development and Management of Commercial Housing: Bright Spots and Persistent Bottlenecks; and
(v) Apartment Building Governance: Maintenance Funds Remain a “Hot Spot”.

Below is the first in the series entitled “Land-Related Financial Obligations: The Strain of Balancing Interests”, originally published in Vietnamese in The Saigon Times on August 8, 2025. The digital version is available here.

Land-Related Financial Obligations: The Strain of Balancing Interests

By Lawyer Nguyễn Thị Nhung (*)

(The Saigon Times) – Editorial Note: After one year in effect, the newly enacted laws – the Land Law 2024, the Real Estate Business Law 2023, and the Housing Law 2023 – have gradually been put into practice. A series of decrees, circulars, and decisions have been promulgated to provide detailed guidance, thereby creating a clear legal framework for project development under the new regime.

The implementation of these laws has been strongly promoted: The Government has issued decisive directives, while local authorities have promptly acted to minimize delays in execution. With such synchronized efforts, despite being in force for less than a year, the real estate market has already recorded positive signs of recovery and transformation. However, practical implementation still reveals many obstacles – from inconsistencies of regulations to differences in interpretation and application among regulatory authorities.

The Saigon Times introduces a series of articles analyzing several noteworthy issues arising from the enforcement of these new laws.

Improvements in Annual Land Rent Calculation

A positive signal can be observed in the significantly improved timeline for determining annual land rental fees under the new regulation, which allows the use of the land price table. Previously, in all cases where land was allocated or leased for projects, the calculation of land rent and land use fees had to be based on a specific land price. Particularly, for projects with land values ranging from VND 10-30 billion (depending on the locality), investors faced long delays due to complicated procedures for determining specific land prices through direct comparison, deduction, income, or surplus methods[1].

Furthermore, the Land Law 2024 maximizes the scope of cases eligible for annual land rental payment, while restricting lump-sum rental payments, thereby allowing more projects to benefit from applying the land price table[2].

In relation to this, most localities have already issued new land price tables applicable during the transitional period from the effective date of the Land Law 2024 until the end of 2025. Land prices in these new tables have been adjusted significantly higher, between 2 to 6 times in Hanoi, and in certain locations in former Ho Chi Minh City, more than 38 times compared to previous levels. This has sharply increased the financial burden on investors.

Nevertheless, it is generally assessed as appropriate, as the previous K-coefficient is no longer applied. Higher land prices in the official tables also help curb the phenomenon of deposit defaults and market distortion during land auctions in several localities.

However, projects subject to land allocation with land use fees or one-off rental payments still face the bottleneck of determining their financial obligations. For such projects, land use fees or lump-sum rental payments are substantial financial obligations, representing a major portion of real estate product pricing. Yet, the difficulties in applying surplus, comparison, or income methods continue to prolong the process of land price determination.

The current delay is so severe that many apartment projects have completed technical infrastructure and foundation works but cannot be offered for sale to mobilize capital because their financial obligations have yet to be finalized.

For instance, in Hanoi, one project allocated land in November 2023 had to wait until February 2025 to receive approval of its land use fee. Although investors can proceed with design and construction before paying the land use fee, the prolonged determination process has prevented project sales. In some cases, investors made provisional estimates of land use fees to announce selling prices, only to find that the officially approved fee was far higher than expected. This left them in a dilemma: keeping the original price meant losses or missed business targets; raising prices meant renegotiating contracts with buyers or forfeiting deposits.

In light of these issues, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has recently proposed a comprehensive overhaul of the land pricing mechanism in the draft Amended Land Law 2024. Instead of applying market principles, land prices would once again be determined by the State through official land price tables and K-coefficients. Despite concerns over the potential resurgence of a “dual price” regime, this mechanism is expected to break the bottleneck in land price determination, much like the improvements already observed in annual rental cases.

The 5.4% Supplementary Levy – An Unjust Burden on Investors

Despite the above-mentioned delays, which primarily harm investors, Articles 50.2 and 51.9 of Decree No. 103/2024/ND-CP require investors to pay an additional 5.4% of the land use fee or land rental, calculated for the period from the date of the land allocation decision until the financial obligation is officially determined. This is not a provisional payment but a real financial obligation with no refund mechanism, even though the delays are caused by government authorities.

The core issue lies in the fact that from the moment a land allocation decision is issued, the entire process of land price determination – valuation, financial department review, appraisal council feedback, and provincial People’s Committee approval – is entirely an internal governmental procedure. Investors have no role in these steps. Nevertheless, when delays occur, investors not only suffer losses from stalled sales and frozen capital, but are also forced to pay the additional 5.4% as though they were at fault.

The draft submission accompanying the second draft amendment to Decree 103, under Official Letter No. 7127/BTC-QLCS dated May 24, 2025 from the Ministry of Finance, addressed this issue. The justification for the levy is framed as a cost-sharing mechanism, suggesting that since investors do not pay the land use fee immediately upon land allocation, they may benefit by deploying the funds elsewhere. However, this submission fails to address the State’s responsibility for the losses suffered by investors who are unable to finalize pricing for sale, resulting in capital being tied up and business operations being stalled.

Based on our opinion, any supplementary charge imposed on investors must be grounded in the principle of investor fault – namely, where the investor causes harm to the State or society, or where the charge serves as a deterrent to prevent future violations. In this case, however, the delays do not originate from the investors; on the contrary, they are the ones bearing the losses in terms of time and costs. Requiring investors to make additional financial payments under these circumstances does not accelerate the determination of land use fees or land rent, as they have no authority to intervene in this process. Therefore, such a supplementary levy – beyond increasing state budget revenues – does not provide any meaningful policy benefit; rather, it places additional fiscal pressure on investors and undermines the investment environment.

It should be further emphasized that for projects with large land reserves, where land use fees may amount to hundreds or even thousands of billions of dong, the 5.4% levy translates into tens or hundreds of billions – a massive burden during a period when investors must concentrate financial resources on licensing and construction. At a time when the real estate enterprise is in a fragile state of recovery, this levy effectively strikes at investor cash flow, slowing overall project development progress.

In the second draft amendment to Decree 103, the drafting agency asserted that eliminating the levy was beyond the Government’s authority, as it had been prescribed in the Land Law 2024. Instead, it proposed keeping the same rate but excluding the period when State authorities conduct land price determination (up to 180 days). By July 2025, in the third draft, the Ministry of Finance introduced a reduced rate of 3.6%, calculated as the average of CPI, six-month deposit rates at Vietcombank, and inflation indices between 2014 and 2024[3].

Proposals to reduce the payment rate and shorten the calculation period, as suggested by the Ministry of Finance, are meaningful in helping to alleviate part of the financial burden on investors. Nevertheless, considering the nature of the issue as analyzed above, we believe the regulation should be abolished entirely, meaning that investors should not be required to pay any supplementary amount, as they bear no fault for delays in determining land use fees or land rent.

To achieve this, the regulation on the supplementary payment under Article 257.2(d) of the Land Law 2024 must be amended. As of late July 2025, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has indeed proposed abolishing the levy in the draft Amended Land Law 2024. This proposal has received bro support from investor community and legal experts, as it correctly reflects the true nature of the issue. However, we note that the amended Land Law 2024 and its implementing regulations should include transitional provisions to ensure that investors who have already paid the supplementary amount in recent years are provided with a mechanism for reimbursement or for offsetting such payments against other tax obligations. This is necessary to ensure fairness among investors and across projects, so that all may benefit equally from the State’s reasonable and humane policy.

Overall, the pace of determining land-related financial obligations has been improving – a positive sign. Nevertheless, further progress is needed, not only in implementation but also within the legal framework itself, to ensure that the investment process is truly smooth and efficient. Timely amendment of inappropriate provisions, supplementation of missing regulations, and correction of mechanisms unfavorable to investors will help mitigate risks, unlock capital flows, and instill confidence in long-term investment.

_________________________________________________

(*) Vilasia Law Firm

[1] Article 114.4 of the Land Law 2013; Article 3.3 of Decree 45/2014/ND-CP and Article 4.4 of Decree 46/2014/ND-CP.

[2] Read our previous analysis on this policy in the article “Land Use Fees and Land Rent Have Been Strongly Reformed”, Saigon Times, available at https://thesaigontimes.vn/tien-su-dung-dat-va-tien-thue-dat-duoc-cai-cach-manh-me/ (last accessed August 3, 2025).

[3] Submission No. 431/TTr-BTC dated July 18, 2025, Ministry of Finance, Draft Government Decree.

The growing importance of green finance in Vietnam’s energy sector is drawing increasing attention – not only for its role in mobilizing much-needed capital, but also for the institutional and market reforms it necessitates.

In this article, Vilasia’s Ngu Truong and Trang Nguyen explore how green finance is evolving into a strategic driver for Vietnam’s energy transition, particularly in the context of rising investment demands, ESG integration, and the development of sustainable financial instruments.

Through an in-depth analysis of current market conditions and policy gaps, the article highlights key challenges, including the absence of a unified green taxonomy, limited market readiness, and barriers to accessing international capital. It also outlines three critical reform areas that could unlock green investment flows and enhance Vietnam’s competitiveness in the global energy landscape.

The article was originally published in Vietnamese in The Saigon Times on September , 2025. The digital version is available here.

Green Finance – The Key to Attracting Capital in the Energy Sector

Trương Hữu Ngữ – Nguyễn Thùy Trang (*)

(The Saigon Times) – Vietnam’s energy investment needs by 2030 will require more than USD 135 billion, which is a financial burden that far exceeds the capacity of both the public sector and domestic private enterprises. In this context, green finance is emerging not only as an additional source of capital but also as a mechanism that reshapes the rules of sustainable development.

To implement international commitments in the energy sector, policy alone is insufficient. According to World Bank estimates and figures in the revised Power Development Plan VIII, Vietnam needs to mobilize around USD 136.3 billion in investment capital for energy development during the 2026-2030 period. Of this, transmission infrastructure accounts for about USD 18.1 billion, and power generation accounts for about USD 118.2 billion. These figures far exceed the self-financing capacity of both the public sector and domestic enterprises. In this context, green finance is emerging as an indispensable strategic lever to support Vietnam’s energy transition process to occur faster, deeper, and more effectively.

Green Finance – More Than Just Low-Cost Capital

Green finance is not merely low-cost funding; it is an entire ecosystem that determines how financial flows are raised, allocated, and monitored under sustainability principles. Tools such as green bonds, sustainable loans, transition finance, blended finance, and investments aligned with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards are no longer academic concepts but have become mainstream transaction standards in global financial markets.

In Vietnam, organizations such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the German Development Agency (GIZ), and the Green Climate Fund have financed or co-financed wind and solar projects, transmission grid upgrades, and energy efficiency programs. However, Vietnam’s ability to absorb green capital remains limited due to a lack of legal standardization, incomplete information, and enterprises being ill-equipped with access skills. Unlocking these capital flows requires a stronger institutional framework, a transparent financial market, and greater readiness from both the State and the private sector.

Although still in its early stages, Vietnam’s green finance market holds significant potential. By the end of 2023, the country had issued just USD 1.2 billion in green bonds, a figure far below that of its ASEAN peers. However, demand for green capital is rising rapidly, particularly in energy infrastructure, green building construction, transportation, and smart cities.

The current bottleneck is the lack of a unified standard system regarding what qualifies as “green.” Enterprises seeking to issue green bonds or borrow green capital face high certification costs and complex ESG reporting requirements, while lacking clear guidance from the State. This prevents many environmentally friendly projects from mobilizing capital through green mechanisms, leading to missed international financial opportunities.

Three Institutional Reforms to Attract Green Capital

For green finance to become a true driver of Vietnam’s energy transition, three key groups of reforms need to be implemented in parallel:

First, establish a national green taxonomy. The Ministry of Finance is working with international partners to develop a system tailored to Vietnam’s economy while aligning with ASEAN and EU standards. This will serve as a “common dictionary” to help enterprises assess eligibility and enable investors to price risks accurately.

Second, develop blended finance mechanisms that share risk among the state, development organizations, and private investors. Such mechanisms are particularly critical for capital-intensive projects with long-term risks, such as offshore wind, energy storage, and smart grid modernization.

Third, strengthen institutional capacity and build transparent data systems. The adoption of standardized ESG reporting and open databases on emissions and green finance will boost investor confidence, especially among organized investment funds and global financial institutions.

Opportunities for Pioneering Businesses

In this transition, private enterprises, especially in energy, real estate, and manufacturing, will play a central role. Those that lead in ESG transparency, produce emissions reports aligned with international standards, apply life-cycle assessments (LCA), and publish Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) will gain access to international capital at lower costs, with longer maturities and more flexible terms.

In addition, enterprises can proactively participate in carbon credit programs and prepare for trading once Vietnam establishes its domestic carbon market. This offers not only a way to reduce compliance costs but also the chance to generate new revenue from the “intangible asset” of emissions reductions.

Green finance is no longer optional. It has become a prerequisite if Vietnam is to meet its net-zero commitment and remain competitive in the global supply chain transition. Achieving this will require coordinated institutional reforms, stronger public governance, and a shift in business mindset.

_________________________________

(*) Vilasia Law Firm

One year after the Land Law 2024, the Real Estate Business Law 2023, and the Housing Law 2023 came into effect, Vietnam’s real estate legal framework has begun to show both its reform momentum and the challenges of implementation.

Vilasia, in collaboration with The Saigon Times, is pleased to present a series of analytical articles by Vilasia’s Nhung Nguyen, offering a one-year review of how these landmark laws are being implemented in practice. Through real cases and regulatory analysis, the series highlights key issues emerging in areas such as land financial obligations, project transfers, delayed projects, commercial housing development, and project implementation models. The series will aim to provide practitioners, investors, and policymakers with a clearer picture of where the new legal framework is working as intended and where further clarification and adjustment may be needed.

The series focus on five main topics:

(i) Land-Related Financial Obligations: The Strain of Balancing Interests;
(ii) Transfers of Real Estate Projects: Practical Bottlenecks in Implementation;
(iii) Delayed (“Suspended”) Projects: Responsibility Cannot Be Placed Solely on Investors;
(iv) Development and Management of Commercial Housing: Bright Spots and Persistent Bottlenecks; and
(v) Apartment Building Governance: Maintenance Funds Remain a “Hot Spot”.

Below is the first in the series entitled “Land-Related Financial Obligations: The Strain of Balancing Interests”, originally published in Vietnamese in The Saigon Times on August 8, 2025. The digital version is available here.

Bài 1 - Tiền thuê, tiền sử dụng đất

Welcome to Vilasia Watt Weekly—your high-voltage gateway to the pulse of Vietnam’s renewables revolution. In each electrifying edition, we illuminate the nation’s shifting energy policies, fresh regulations, and ramped-up enforcement measures that shape the industry’s momentum. Our mission is to energize your perspectives on Vietnam’s low-carbon transition—whether you’re navigating legal compliance, scouting clean power investments, or simply captivated by the winds of change sweeping through the energy landscape. Join us as we shine a spotlight on the empowering developments that are charging Vietnam’s future with sustainable possibility.
Chào mừng quý độc giả đến với Vilasia Watt Weekly—“cánh cổng cao thế” dẫn lối vào nhịp đập sôi động của cuộc cách mạng năng lượng tái tạo tại Việt Nam. Trong mỗi ấn phẩm tràn đầy sức sống, chúng tôi sẽ soi rọi những chuyển biến trong chính sách năng lượng, các quy định mới, cùng các biện pháp tăng cường thực thi đang định hình đà phát triển của toàn ngành. Sứ mệnh của chúng tôi là tiếp thêm “năng lượng” cho góc nhìn của bạn về con đường giảm phát thải carbon—dù bạn đang tìm hiểu về tuân thủ pháp lý, tìm kiếm cơ hội đầu tư năng lượng sạch, hay đơn giản chỉ say mê trước luồng gió đổi thay thổi bùng bức tranh năng lượng Việt. Hãy đồng hành cùng chúng tôi để khám phá những bước tiến vững chắc, góp phần “sạc” đầy tiềm năng bền vững cho tương lai đất nước.

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In this edition of “Highlights of Energy News”, we spotlight Vietnam’s accelerating clean energy transition shaped by the Politburo’s Resolution 70. Key developments include breakthrough policies for offshore wind and nuclear power, expansion of DPPA retail reforms, and the completion of 15 national standards for battery energy storage. LNG and gas-fired power projects are being prioritized to stabilize supply, while JETP resource mobilization surpasses USD 10 billion to fund renewable and storage projects. From Cà Mau’s offshore wind expansion to the revival of Ninh Thuận’s nuclear projects, Vietnam’s energy landscape is entering a decisive phase toward sustainability and security.

Trong ấn phẩm “Điểm Tin Năng Lượng Nổi Bật”, chúng tôi điểm lại những chuyển động quan trọng trong quá trình chuyển đổi năng lượng của Việt Nam theo định hướng Nghị quyết 70 của Bộ Chính trị. Điện gió ngoài khơi và điện hạt nhân được thúc đẩy với các cơ chế đột phá; cơ chế DPPA và giá bán lẻ hai thành phần được thử nghiệm, tạo tiền đề cho thị trường điện cạnh tranh. Bộ 15 tiêu chuẩn quốc gia về pin lưu trữ năng lượng được ban hành – bước tiến lớn trong chuyển đổi xanh. Các dự án LNG, điện khí được ưu tiên triển khai, trong khi nguồn vốn JETP hơn 10 tỷ USD đang được huy động cho năng lượng tái tạo và lưu trữ. Từ Cà Mau đến Ninh Thuận, bức tranh năng lượng Việt Nam đang bước vào giai đoạn định hình mới – bền vững, an toàn và hiện đại.

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Welcome to Vilasia Watt Weekly—your high-voltage gateway to the pulse of Vietnam’s renewables revolution. In each electrifying edition, we illuminate the nation’s shifting energy policies, fresh regulations, and ramped-up enforcement measures that shape the industry’s momentum. Our mission is to energize your perspectives on Vietnam’s low-carbon transition—whether you’re navigating legal compliance, scouting clean power investments, or simply captivated by the winds of change sweeping through the energy landscape. Join us as we shine a spotlight on the empowering developments that are charging Vietnam’s future with sustainable possibility.
Chào mừng quý độc giả đến với Vilasia Watt Weekly—“cánh cổng cao thế” dẫn lối vào nhịp đập sôi động của cuộc cách mạng năng lượng tái tạo tại Việt Nam. Trong mỗi ấn phẩm tràn đầy sức sống, chúng tôi sẽ soi rọi những chuyển biến trong chính sách năng lượng, các quy định mới, cùng các biện pháp tăng cường thực thi đang định hình đà phát triển của toàn ngành. Sứ mệnh của chúng tôi là tiếp thêm “năng lượng” cho góc nhìn của bạn về con đường giảm phát thải carbon—dù bạn đang tìm hiểu về tuân thủ pháp lý, tìm kiếm cơ hội đầu tư năng lượng sạch, hay đơn giản chỉ say mê trước luồng gió đổi thay thổi bùng bức tranh năng lượng Việt. Hãy đồng hành cùng chúng tôi để khám phá những bước tiến vững chắc, góp phần “sạc” đầy tiềm năng bền vững cho tương lai đất nước.

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In this edition, “Green Finance: A Strategic Springboard for Energy Transition“, we explore Vietnam’s green finance framework and how it shapes clean energy investments. The article highlights falling capital costs, the issuance of green taxonomy (Decision 21/2025), and the first DPPA mechanism (Decree 57/2025). Yet challenges persist: lack of long-term guarantees, high equity requirements, and unclear risk-sharing PPP contracts. If these bottlenecks remain, JETP and green capital may never reach scale. A must-read for investors navigating Vietnam’s evolving climate finance landscape.

Trong ấn phẩm “Tài chính xanh: Bàn đạp chiến lược cho chuyển dịch năng lượng”, chúng tôi phân tích thực trạng hệ sinh thái tài chính xanh tại Việt Nam và tác động đến dòng vốn đầu tư năng lượng sạch. Bài viết điểm lại các diễn biến chính như chi phí vốn giảm, danh mục phân loại xanh (QĐ 21/2025), và cơ chế DPPA đầu tiên (NĐ 57/2025). Tuy nhiên, các rào cản lớn vẫn còn: thiếu bảo lãnh dài hạn, yêu cầu vốn tự có cao, và cơ chế PPP chia sẻ rủi ro chưa rõ ràng. Nếu không được tháo gỡ, JETP và vốn xanh sẽ khó phát huy hiệu quả. Tài liệu không thể bỏ qua cho nhà đầu tư quan tâm đến tài chính khí hậu tại Việt Nam.

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Vilasia, phối hợp cùng The Saigon Times, trân trọng giới thiệu bài viết chuyên sâu các rủi ro chính của DPPA và một số biện pháp phòng ngừa, giúp nhà đầu tư và các doanh nghiệp phòng tránh rủi ro trong tương lai.

Dưới đây là toàn văn bài viết, lần đầu được đăng bằng tiếng Việt trên The Saigon Times vào ngày 17 tháng 4 năm 2025. 

DPPA Rủi ro chính và biện pháp phòng ngừa

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Welcome to Vilasia Watt Weekly—your high-voltage gateway to the pulse of Vietnam’s renewables revolution. In each electrifying edition, we illuminate the nation’s shifting energy policies, fresh regulations, and ramped-up enforcement measures that shape the industry’s momentum. Our mission is to energize your perspectives on Vietnam’s low-carbon transition—whether you’re navigating legal compliance, scouting clean power investments, or simply captivated by the winds of change sweeping through the energy landscape. Join us as we shine a spotlight on the empowering developments that are charging Vietnam’s future with sustainable possibility.
Chào mừng quý độc giả đến với Vilasia Watt Weekly—“cánh cổng cao thế” dẫn lối vào nhịp đập sôi động của cuộc cách mạng năng lượng tái tạo tại Việt Nam. Trong mỗi ấn phẩm tràn đầy sức sống, chúng tôi sẽ soi rọi những chuyển biến trong chính sách năng lượng, các quy định mới, cùng các biện pháp tăng cường thực thi đang định hình đà phát triển của toàn ngành. Sứ mệnh của chúng tôi là tiếp thêm “năng lượng” cho góc nhìn của bạn về con đường giảm phát thải carbon—dù bạn đang tìm hiểu về tuân thủ pháp lý, tìm kiếm cơ hội đầu tư năng lượng sạch, hay đơn giản chỉ say mê trước luồng gió đổi thay thổi bùng bức tranh năng lượng Việt. Hãy đồng hành cùng chúng tôi để khám phá những bước tiến vững chắc, góp phần “sạc” đầy tiềm năng bền vững cho tương lai đất nước.

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In this edition, “Decree 58/2025 in Comparison with Recently Issued Decrees“, we examine Vietnam’s latest regulatory advancements in renewable and new energy. Decree 58 sets out a clear framework for self-produced and self-consumed electricity, introduces priority mobilization for energy storage-integrated projects, and provides financial leverage for new energy ventures like green hydrogen. By clarifying capacity rules, expanding application scope, and simplifying licensing procedures under Decree 61, this article offers essential guidance for businesses and investors navigating Vietnam’s evolving clean energy legal landscape.

Trong ấn phẩm này, “Nghị Định 58/2025 trong Tương Quan Với Các Nghị Định Mới Ban Hành”, chúng tôi phân tích những tiến triển mới trong khung pháp lý điều chỉnh năng lượng tái tạo và năng lượng mới tại Việt Nam. Nghị định 58 thiết lập nền tảng rõ ràng cho điện tự sản, tự tiêu; ưu tiên huy động các dự án tích hợp lưu trữ; và tạo đòn bẩy tài chính cho các dự án hydrogen xanh. Với các quy định rõ ràng về công suất, phạm vi áp dụng mở rộng và thủ tục cấp phép được đơn giản hóa theo Nghị định 61, bài viết cung cấp hướng dẫn thiết yếu cho doanh nghiệp và nhà đầu tư trong hành trình thích ứng với khung pháp lý năng lượng sạch đang phát triển của Việt Nam.

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