Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2663 actions· ✨ 89 recent

On 31 March 2026 the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 96/2026/ND-CP, the principal implementing decree for the Law on Investment 2025 (Law 143/2025/QH15). It takes effect on its signing date and replaces Decree 31/2021/ND-CP, Decree 19/2025/ND-CP and Decree 239/2025/ND-CP — the first comprehensive overhaul of Vietnam's general FDI-licensing framework since 2021. The decree operationalises the new Special Investment Procedure (a registration-and-commitment fast-track in industrial parks, export-processing zones, hi-tech parks, concentrated digital- technology zones, free-trade zones, international financial centres and economic-zone functional areas) and details the list of 16 specially-incentivised sectors covering semiconductor and chip manufacturing, AI, big data, digital technology and high-tech R&D. It also rewrites foreign-investor market-access conditions, document procedures and dispute / grievance mechanisms.

Romania's Government adopted Emergency Ordinance nr. 8/2026 on 24 February 2026, published in the Official Gazette (Monitorul Oficial) nr. 147 of 25 February 2026 and entering into force 1 March 2026, committing a EUR 5 billion (~RON 25 bn) horizontal economic-recovery and productive-investment envelope through 2032 structured around nine state-aid schemes, a 200% corporate R&D expense deduction (High-Tech Research Schema), a RON 1 bn Investment and Development Bank (BID) recapitalization, and a RON 1 bn EximBank export-credit allocation. The ordinance frames Romania's pivot "from consumption to investments as the engine of economic growth" and establishes a Strategic Investment tier (minimum RON 1 bn project value) qualifying for the highest-intensity state-aid eligibility, while introducing a 3% tax-compliance bonus and asset-expensing threshold raised to RON 5,000.

On 15 January 2026 the Government of Vietnam issued Decree No. 20/2026/ND-CP, providing detailed implementing regulations for National Assembly Resolution 198/2025/QH15 (17 May 2025) on special mechanisms and policies for the development of the private economic sector. The decree (6 chapters, 17 articles) introduces a synchronized incentive framework covering corporate and personal income tax exemptions, land-access support, science/technology and digital transformation support, and human-resource training. SMEs registering for the first time are exempt from corporate income tax for three consecutive years; innovative startups receive a full CIT exemption for two years followed by a 50% reduction for four years; eligible experts and scientists at innovative startups, R&D centers, and intermediary organizations receive a personal income tax exemption for two years followed by a 50% reduction for four years. The decree took effect on the date of signature, with CIT/PIT incentive provisions retroactively applicable from 17 May 2025 (the effective date of Resolution 198/2025/QH15).

On 24 December 2025 the Minister of Science and Technology signed Decision No. 4386/QĐ-BKHCN defining the functions, tasks, and organisational structure of the Vietnam National Multi-Project Wafer Coordination Centre (VNMPW/CC). The Centre sits under MOST's Authority of Information Technology Industry and acts as a coordinating hub between domestic chip-design firms, research institutes, and domestic / foreign fabrication and packaging partners. It provides shared EDA software access, IP libraries, technical design verification, performance measurement, training programmes, and pilot-production (MPW shuttle) support — the first concrete institutional node operationalising Vietnam's 2024 semiconductor strategy (Decision 1018/QĐ-TTg).

Vietnam's 15th National Assembly adopted the Law on Investment 2025 (Law No. 143/2025/QH15) at its 10th session on 11 December 2025, effective 1 March 2026. The law replaces the 2020 Law on Investment (Law 61/2020/QH14) as the umbrella FDI framework. Article 19 lets foreign investors establish enterprises in Vietnam without a prior investment project, unlocking holding-company / regional-headquarters structures. A fast-track Special Investment Procedure (SIP) covers industrial parks, export-processing zones, hi-tech parks, concentrated digital-technology zones, free-trade zones, international financial centres and economic-zone functional areas, targeting semiconductor, data-centre and 5G/digital-infrastructure capex. Appendix IV abolishes 38 conditional business sectors and adjusts 20 others (from 1 July 2026 only 199 conditional sectors remain). Operationalised by Decree 96/2026/ND-CP (issued and effective 31 March 2026) and Decree 103/2026/ND-CP for outbound investment.

On 14 June 2025 Vietnam's 15th National Assembly adopted Law No. 71/2025/QH15 on the Digital Technology Industry (DTI Law) at its 9th session. The Law enters into force on 1 January 2026 (with certain provisions phased) and is the world's first standalone primary statute dedicated to the digital technology industry, covering digital-tech production and services, semiconductor manufacturing, artificial-intelligence systems, digital assets (legally recognised as property under the Civil Code), and Concentrated Digital Technology Zones. It codifies sector-specific incentives — multi-year corporate income tax reductions, R&D-cost deductions, preferential public procurement, five-year personal income tax exemption for high-quality digital professionals, five-year visa and work-permit exemptions for foreign experts, and 50% subsidy for SME advanced-technology acquisition — and sets headline targets of 150,000 digital-tech enterprises and USD 74bn digital-economy contribution by 2030/2035 (with USD 43bn / USD 74bn variants in different government summaries).

On 7 March 2025, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed and endorsed a three-year national programme to develop Uzbekistan's critical-minerals raw-material base, totalling USD 2.6 bn across 76 projects covering 28 rare-metal elements (tungsten, lithium, titanium, vanadium, molybdenum, magnesium, germanium, graphite, rare earths and others). The plan, presented by Minister of Mining Industry and Geology Bobur Islamov, structures the effort along a "raw materials → processing → science & technology → finished products" value chain, establishes technology parks in the Tashkent and Samarkand regions, and directs ministries to facilitate technology transfer, modern laboratories, and training centres. It is Uzbekistan's first programmatic critical-minerals push at this scale and the first Central-Asia upstream-capture filing in the IPTM register.

Vietnam issued Decree 182/2024/ND-CP on 31 December 2024, establishing the Investment Support Fund (ISF) to provide direct cash subsidies for high-tech enterprises and R&D centers. The decree offers up to 50% of initial investment costs for semiconductor and AI R&D projects meeting qualifying thresholds. The ISF is managed by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, with support available for operating costs, fixed asset investments, workforce training, and high-tech product manufacturing.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act No. 12066 — the CREATE MORE Act ("Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy") — on 11 November 2024, with the law taking effect on 28 November 2024. RA 12066 amends the 2021 CREATE Act (RA 11534) to extend the maximum tax-incentive availment for Registered Business Enterprises from 17 to 27 years, cuts the corporate income tax to 20% for RBEs under the Enhanced Deductions Regime (vs the standard 25% / SCIT 5%), grants a 100% additional power-expense deduction (raised from 50%) for manufacturers, expands VAT zero-rating and import VAT-exemption for export-oriented enterprises, raises the IPA approval threshold from PHP 1bn to PHP 15bn, and institutionalises work-from-home for ecozone/freeport RBEs.

On 21 September 2024 Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính signed Decision No. 1018/QĐ-TTg approving Vietnam's first national strategy for semiconductor industry development through 2030 with vision to 2050. The strategy is built around the "C = SET + 1" formula (Chip = Specialised + Electronics + Talent + Vietnam) and sets a three-phase roadmap: ≥100 design firms / ≥10 ATP plants / 1 fab and USD 25bn semiconductor revenue by 2030; ≥200 design firms / ≥15 ATP plants / 2 fabs and USD 50bn revenue by 2040; ≥300 design firms / ≥20 ATP plants / 3 fabs and USD 100bn revenue by 2050. It also targets training of 50,000 semiconductor engineers by 2030 and designates the Ministries of Information & Communications, Planning & Investment, and Science & Technology as lead agencies.