About the Vietnam Foreign Investment Navigator

Where the content comes from

This site is built on the Vietnam Foreign Investment Navigator 2026 (version 1.0), an Excel workbook prepared by Trinh Ngoc Nam, a Vietnamese investment lawyer. It is published here with his permission so that it can be read, searched and used on any device. The original workbook is available to download below.

The author has not reviewed this website. Any error in turning the workbook into web pages is ours, not his.

How the Route Finder works

You enter facts only: who is investing, what the business does, where, how, and the ownership before and after. The Route Finder applies the same decision logic as the workbook to suggest a route (R1 to R10, or a branch or representative office) and to mark each possible approval as required, potentially required, not normally required, or for case-specific review.

Some points are legal conclusions that only a lawyer can give, such as market access for your activity or whether Investment Policy Approval is required. Until those are entered, the result stays provisional and those points stay open. Nothing is guessed on your behalf.

Legal cut-off and law changes

Legal status reviewed as of 18 September 2026: Investment Law No. 143/2025/QH15 (in force since 1 March 2026) and its implementing Decree No. 96/2026/NĐ-CP. Law No. 24/2026/QH16 amending the Investment Law takes effect on 1 March 2027; routes will be revised for it.

Statutory time limits, some authority names and some article references are left for confirmation in the workbook. This site does not fill them in: where a point is open, the page says "confirm with counsel".

What this site is not

It is a general orientation tool. It is not legal advice and does not replace advice from a lawyer licensed in Vietnam on your specific facts. A "likely route" result reflects only the information you entered and is not a legal opinion. Vietnamese law and administrative practice change often, and local authorities may apply rules differently.

Your data

Route Finder answers and go-live checklist entries are kept only in your own browser so that you can come back to them. They are not sent to us or to anyone else unless you ask for an email summary (below). Use "Clear all answers" or "Clear checklist" to remove them from your browser.

If you ask us to email you a summary, we store your email address, the optional name, company and country you give, and your route result, and use them only to send that summary. If you also ask for an introduction to a lawyer, we store your Route Finder answers and your message as well, and share them with the lawyer we introduce so you do not have to repeat them. We do not sell this information or use it for advertising. To have it deleted, write to xin-chao@fundraising.vn.

If you allow it, we use Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages and tools are used. It sets cookies and receives the page address and anonymous events such as "a route result was shown" with the route code. It never receives what you type. You can change your choice at any time from "Analytics settings" at the bottom of every page. Google signals and ad personalisation are switched off.

Who runs this site

The Navigator is published by fundraising.vn, a free toolkit that helps Vietnamese startups prepare to raise capital. Foreign investors putting money into Vietnamese startups follow the share-acquisition routes described here (R5 and R6).