Data center rules in Vietnam

The Telecommunications Law 2023 lets investors in data centre and cloud services hold any share of the business. Many other telecom services keep a 49% foreign ownership ceiling.

A company must register and receive a telecom service registration certificate before it sells data centre services. Decree 163/2024 sets the conditions, which include a technical plan and information security measures. Registration is lighter than a full telecom licence.

Decree 133/2025 moved several telecom licensing and registration tasks to provincial People's Committees. Lawyers report that data centre registration certificates are now issued at provincial level.

Circular 42/2025 requires data centres to meet TCVN 9250:2021, TIA 942 or Uptime Institute tier standards. Operators self assess and declare conformity before launch, and report changes to the provincial science department within 15 days. Small edge sites are excluded.

The Investment Law 2025 lets investors choose a special investment procedure for projects in high tech zones, digital technology zones and industrial zones. The investor files a written commitment to meet standards in place of several upfront approvals.

Circular 60/2025 lists facilities that provide central data processing, storage and management services under the retail tariff for business use. Press reports cite Article 11 item 19. The old Circular 16/2014 had no data centre category, so data centres were billed at the cheaper production rate.

Dispatch 2818, dated 22 April 2026, told EVN to bill the technical systems of data centres at the production rate. Offices and other service areas stay on the business rate. Operators said the business tariff had raised power costs by more than 50%.

The State Audit Office told EVN Ho Chi Minh City to apply the business rate under Circular 60 and said Dispatch 2818 is guidance without legal force. EVN Ho Chi Minh City billed Viettel and CMC at the business rate and threatened supply cuts over 11.35 billion dong in arrears as of 16 September 2026.

Decree 278/2026 amends Decree 72/2025 on how EVN adjusts the average retail power price. Adjustments must be at least three months apart. A rise below 2% or a fall below 1% triggers no change.

Decree 57/2025 lets large users buy renewable power directly from generators, known as a direct power purchase agreement or DPPA. Decree 243/2026 amended it and names data centres among large users that can buy at 22 kV and above.

Resolution 262/NQ-CP of 5 September 2026 tells the power ministry to prepare a power supply plan for data centres and high performance computing to 2030. The task missed its 15 August deadline and moved to September 2026.

The Law on Digital Technology Industry 2025 names data centres as shared digital infrastructure the state will prioritise. Projects in concentrated digital technology zones can get land rent cuts and corporate income tax benefits.

Article 28 of the same law allows direct support from local budgets for infrastructure and equipment in AI data centre construction. The law sets no percentage or cap for this support.

Income from a new AI data centre project can be taxed at 10% for 15 years. It can also get four years of tax exemption and a 50% cut for the next nine years. The basis is the Corporate Income Tax Law 2025 and Decree 320/2025.

Decree 333/2026 implements the Cybersecurity Law 2025 and replaces Decree 53/2022. Covered domestic and foreign service providers must store Vietnamese users' data such as account names, payment details and IP addresses in Vietnam. Foreign firms get 12 months from a ministry notice to comply.

Law 116/2025/QH15 merges the 2015 network information security law and the 2018 Cybersecurity Law. It keeps the duty to store user data in Vietnam and requires logs to be kept for at least 12 months.

Law 91/2025/QH15 governs personal data. A company that sends personal data abroad must file a transfer impact assessment with the Ministry of Public Security within 60 days of the first transfer. Fines for unlawful transfers reach 5% of prior year revenue.

Decree 356/2025 replaced Decree 13/2023 and took effect with the new law. Firms that provide data processing services do not get the small business exemption from impact assessments.

The Data Law 2024 covers all digital data. Transfers of core or important data abroad need an impact assessment and a risk report to the Ministry of Public Security.

Decree 347/2026 requires firms offering data analysis and data synthesis services to notify the National Data Centre before they operate. They must also file an annual report by 20 December.

Vietnam has national standards in the TCVN 14285 series for data centre efficiency. Part 2 covers power usage effectiveness, or PUE, the ratio of total site energy to IT energy. Part 9 covers water usage effectiveness. These standards are voluntary.

Circular 42/2025 sets the mandatory design standards for data centres. It sets no limit on water use, cooling efficiency or PUE.

QCVN 04-3:2026/BXD sets energy efficiency rules, including chiller and air conditioning efficiency, for civil buildings of 2,500 square metres or more. Its listed building types are offices, hotels, hospitals, schools, malls and apartments. Data centres are absent from the list.

EVN Ho Chi Minh City has asked the power ministry to amend Circular 60 to set how mixed use sites split their tariff. The ministry's Electricity Department said it is reviewing the rules and asked the parties to agree in the meantime.

The Ministry of Science and Technology sent its third letter to the power ministry on 15 September 2026. It asked that EVN apply the production rate to data centres in every region.

The power supply plan for data centres under Resolution 262 was due in September 2026. No published plan was found by 3 October 2026.

The Ministry of Finance has proposed amending Decree 320/2025 to give strategic technology enterprises 10% corporate tax for 25 years. The draft does not name data centres.

The National Assembly passed Law 20/2026/QH16 on 24 August 2026. It amends four laws including the Telecommunications Law and shifts toward checks after market entry. Its effect on data centre registration is not yet clear.