New regulations issued for foreign investors in e-commerce

A number of new regulations on foreign investment in the field of e-commerce are included in Decree No. 85/2021/ND-CP from the government.

Foreign traders and organizations with websites providing e-commerce services in Vietnam must have one of the following: e-commerce websites with Vietnamese domain names; e-commerce websites whose display language is Vietnamese; or e-commerce websites with over 100,000 transactions from Vietnam in a year.

Market access conditions include foreign investors investing in providing e-commerce services in Vietnam as prescribed in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 21 of the Law on Investment.

Foreign investors controlling one or more enterprises in the group of five leading enterprises in Vietnam’s e-commerce market, according to a list released by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), must have an appraisal on national security from the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). Investors who invest in innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in accordance with the law on supporting SMEs are not required to comply with the above provisions.

In order for a business license to be granted to foreign investors in the field of e-commerce, MoIT will first send a written request to MPS and then send a written reply to the license granting agency.