New Special Investment Procedure Documents in Vietnam

Currently, in addition to the ordinary investment procedure, the Investment Law also regulates the special investment procedure, which applies to certain investment projects in the semiconductor industry, high technology, and others conducted in industrial zones, export processing zones, hi-tech zones, and economic zones. Accordingly, what documents are required for this new special investment procedure, and what are the prescribed forms of such documents? In the following, Viet An Law Firm will clarify the new special investment procedure documents in Vietnam under Circular No. 06/2025/TT-BTC.

Sectors that are governed by the special investment procedure

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 2 of Decree No. 19/2025/ND-CP and Clause 1, Article 36a of the Investment Law 2020 (as amended and supplemented in 2024 and 2025), except for investment projects which are under the National Assembly’s authority of approving investment guidelines, investors are entitled to opt for registration under the special investment procedure with respect to projects conducted in industrial zones, export processing zones, hi-tech zones, concentrated digital technology zones, free trade zones, and functional areas within economic zones in the following sectors:

• Innovation centers, research and development (R&D) centers;
• Semiconductor integrated circuit industry, component design and manufacturing technology, integrated circuits (IC), flexible electronics (PE), chips, and semiconductor materials;
• High technologies prioritized for investment and development; manufacture of products on the List of High-tech Products Encouraged for Development.

Accordingly, the special investment procedure is primarily applied to projects conducted in industrial zones, export processing zones, hi-tech zones, concentrated information technology zones, free trade zones, and functional areas within economic zones.

Application documents for the issuance of the Investment Registration Certificate under the special investment procedure

Based on Clause 2, Article 36a of the Investment Law 2020 (as amended and supplemented in 2024 and 2025), the application documents for the issuance of the Investment Registration Certificate shall include documents similar to those required for approval of investment guidelines for investor-proposed projects under Article 33 of the Investment Law 2020, comprising::

• A written request for implementation of the investment project, including a commitment to comply with conditions, standards, and technical regulations as prescribed by the laws on construction, environmental protection, and fire prevention and fighting; a project proposal identifying and forecasting the project’s environmental impacts and measures to mitigate adverse impacts on the environment, in substitution for a preliminary environmental impact assessment;
• Documents evidencing the investor’s legal status;
• Documents proving the investor’s financial capacity, including at least one of the following: the investor’s financial statements of the two most recent years; a commitment of financial support from the parent company; a commitment of financial support from a financial institution; a guarantee of the investor’s financial capacity; or other documents proving the investor’s financial capacity;
• A project proposal containing the following principal contents: the investor or method of selecting the investor, investment objectives, investment scale, investment capital and financing plan, location, term, implementation schedule, information on the current land use status at the project site and proposed land use demand (if any), labor demand, proposal for investment incentives, socio-economic impacts and efficiency of the project, and a preliminary environmental impact assessment (if any) in accordance with the law on environmental protection;
• In case the investment project does not request the State to allocate land, lease land, or permit conversion of land use purpose, a copy of documents on land use rights or other documents identifying the right to use the project site shall be submitted;
• An explanation of the technology to be used in the investment project, for projects subject to appraisal and consultation on technology in accordance with the law on technology transfer;
• A business cooperation contract (BCC) for projects implemented in the form of a BCC contract;
• Other documents related to the investment project and requirements on conditions and capacity of the investor as prescribed by law (if any).

According to Clause 2 Article 3 of Decree No. 19/2025/ND-CP, the investor’s commitments in the written request for implementation of the investment project shall include the following contents:

• Conditions, standards, and relevant technical regulations as prescribed by the laws on construction, environmental protection, and fire prevention and fighting;
• A preliminary assessment of the project’s conformity with the conditions, standards, and technical regulations specified at Point a of this Clause;
• A commitment to comply with the conditions, standards, and technical regulations, not to commit prohibited acts as prescribed by the laws on construction, environmental protection, and fire prevention and fighting, and to bear full responsibility in case of failure to comply with the committed contents.

Application forms of new special investment procedure documents under Circular No. 06/2025

Circular No. 06/2025/TT-BKHDT promulgates templates of documents related to the special investment procedure, in which the document templates applicable to investors are provided in Section I of the Annex. Specifically, these include:

• Written request for implementation of the investment project (new issuance): Form D1;
• Written request for reissuance of the Investment Registration Certificate: Form D2;
• Written request for amendment of the investment project (adjustment of the project objectives): Form D3;
• Investment project proposal: Form D4;

Accordingly, the written request for implementation of the investment project must consist of the following information:

• Investor’s information (individual/organization): name, address, tax identification number, telephone, email; legal status documents including the following: Personal Identification Number, Citizen Identity Card, Identity Card, Passport, or other lawful personal identification papers (for individuals); Establishment Decision, Enterprise Registration Certificate, or other equivalent documents (for organizations); percentage of charter capital held by foreign investors in the enterprise/organization; information on the legal representative/authorized representative of the enterprise/organization applying for investment registration;…
• Information on the established or to-be-established economic organization (in case the foreign investor invests in the form of establishing an economic organization): name, type of entity, charter capital, capital contribution ratio,…
• Information on the investment project: project name, type, location of implementation, objectives, scale, investment capital and financing plan, sources of investment capital, duration of operation, project implementation schedule,…
• Investor’s specific assessment: conditions, standards, and technical regulations as prescribed by the laws on construction, environmental protection, and fire prevention and fighting; preliminary assessment of the project’s conformity with such conditions, standards, and technical regulations;…
• Commitments of the investor/economic organization: to be responsible before the law for the legality, accuracy, and truthfulness of the dossier and documents submitted to the competent state authority; to comply with the laws of Vietnam and the contents of the Investment Registration Certificate; to bear all costs and risks and not to file any complaint or lawsuit if the project is not granted the Investment Registration Certificate; to satisfy the conditions, standards, and technical regulations; to take full responsibility in case of failure to comply with the commitments and implementation schedule;…

Processing time for the application documents of the new special investment procedure under Circular No. 06/2025/TT-BKHDT

According to Clause 3, Article 3 of Decree No. 19/2025/NĐ-CP and Clause 4, Article 36a of the Investment Law 2020 (as amended in 2024 and 2025), the procedure for issuance of the Investment Registration Certificate in this case includes the following steps:

• The investor shall submit 01 dossier for the Investment Registration Certificate to the Management Board of industrial zones, export processing zones, high-tech zones, or economic zones (Management Board).
• Within 15 days from the date of receipt of the application dossier, the Management Board shall assess the dossier and issue the Investment Registration Certificate.
• The Investment Registration Certificate, together with the investor’s commitments, shall be simultaneously sent to the competent state management authorities in charge of construction order, environmental protection, and fire prevention and fighting at the local leve

As a result, in conformity with this regulation, the special investment procedure shifts from a “pre-check” mechanism to a “post-check” mechanism. Following this, investors need to carry out the investment registration procedure to be granted the Investment Registration Certificate within 15 days, and are not required to complete certain licensing procedures in the fields of construction, fire prevention and fighting, and environmental protection (which is expected to shorten the project implementation time by approximately 260 days).

The above-mentioned information constitutes our advice regarding the application dossier for the new special investment procedure documents in Vietnam under Circular No. 06/2025/TT-BKHDT. Should you have any related questions or require legal consultation on investment matters, please do not hesitate to contact Viet An Law Firm for the best advice and support.