New law on high technology and guiding decree effective from 1 July 2026

As of 1 July 2026, the Law on High Technology No. 133/2025/QH15 promulgated by the National Assembly on 10 December 2025 ("High-tech Law") and Decree No. 260/2026/ND-CP issued by the Government on 30 June 2026 detailing and implementing measures for a number of articles of the Law on High Technology ("Decree 260") have officially come into effect.

High-tech Law and Decree 260 are considered a relatively complete legal framework for enterprises in the high-tech sector as well as state incentives and support policies for these enterprises, replacing previous separate regulations on criteria for qualification, recognition, and eligibility for incentives in the high-tech sector. In addition, the High-tech Law and Decree 260 provide a more detailed classification of incentive-eligible enterprises by dividing High-tech Enterprises into Group 1 High-tech Enterprises and Group 2 High-tech Enterprises, while also introducing the new concepts of Strategic Technology and Strategic Technology Enterprises and more comprehensive criteria for incentive eligibility. Furthermore, Decree 260 expands the authority to issue certifications in the high-tech sector to the provincial Departments of Science and Technology, whereas such authority was previously vested exclusively in the Ministry of Science and Technology, which reflects the trend in decentralisation and simplification of administrative procedures.

The key changes are summarized below:

• Strategic technology refers to technologies that:

ꟷ are breakthrough and widespread; and

ꟷ are identified by the State as priority areas for concentrated investment and development in order to enhance technological self-reliance, strengthen national competitiveness, safeguard national defense and security, and promote sustainable socio-economic development.

• A strategic technology enterprise is an enterprise that:

ꟷ manufactures strategic technology products or provides strategic technology services; and

ꟷ conducts research and development activities relating to strategic technologies and strategic technology products.

The High-tech Law identifies 04 categories of enterprises operating in the high-tech and strategic technology sectors that are entitled to different levels of State incentives and support, specifically¹:

Under the previous regulations, the Ministry of Science and Technology (“MOST”) was the sole authority responsible for issuing certificates and recognitions in the high-tech sector. Now, Decree 260 has introduced cases where the licensing authority is the provincial Department of Science and Technology (“DOST”), specifically:

• MOST has authority to issue certificates for: Group 1 High-tech Enterprises; Group 2 High-tech Enterprises with total capital of VND 6,000 billion or more; and Strategic Technology Enterprises.
• DOSTs have authority to issue certificates for: High-tech Product Manufacturing Enterprises; and Group 2 High-tech Enterprises with total capital of less than VND 6,000 billion.