Of around 45,000 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Vietnam, about 1,500 are subject to the global minimum tax (GMT), while fewer than 200 have actually incurred tax liabilities under the mechanism.
The figures were revealed by Dang Ngoc Minh, Deputy Director of the Department of Taxation under the Ministry of Finance (MOF), at a September 28 seminar on tax and investment policies for FDI enterprises.
He said the global minimum tax rate of 15% applies to enterprises that previously benefited from preferential tax rates of 5% or 10% and other tax incentives.
Vietnam collected around 16.5 trillion VND (635.4 million USD) in GMT revenue in 2025, contributing to socio-economic development while recovering part of the tax incentives previously granted.
FDI attraction shifts towards quality
Director of the department Mai Xuan Thanh said that after nearly four decades of attracting foreign investment, the FDI sector has become an important part of Vietnam’s economy, contributing to economic growth, exports, employment and technology transfer.
However, investment policy has shifted from focusing on the volume of capital attracted to the quality of investment, value creation and contributions to sustainable development, he said, stressing the need to adapt policies and management practices to changing investment priorities.
Nguyen Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the MOF's Foreign Investment Agency, said Vietnam needs to improve productivity, the quality of growth, competitiveness and economic self-reliance.
Continued FDI attraction remains necessary, but the goal is no longer simply to increase capital inflows or the number of projects. Greater emphasis should be placed on the quality, efficiency and sustainability of investment, while strengthening links between the FDI sector and domestic businesses and long-term development goals, he added.
Incentives shift to cost-based support
Minh said foreign investors’ decisions to choose to invest in Vietnam are no longer as heavily dependent on tax incentives as before, with the country’s strategic position in global production chains, infrastructure, trade relations and workforce providing favourable conditions for deeper participation in production networks.
Accordingly, income-based incentives will no longer be appropriate, and FDI attraction policies will shift towards cost-based support, including including support for technology, technology transfer and human resource training in industrial and high-tech sectors.
The Government will also invest in industrial infrastructure to help enterprises develop ecosystems and encourage Vietnamese firms to join supply chains through training, support for business establishment and ecosystem development.
Future incentives will be linked to enterprises’ performance, particularly technology transfer and human resource training, and must be clearly specified from the outset in investment licences.
Minh said tax authorities would conduct pre-supervision of enterprises’ implementation of their commitments. A shared database platform should be developed to enable tax authorities to exchange data on enterprises and individuals with agencies under the Ministry of Finance and other Government bodies.
The aim is to allow enterprises to declare relevant information and commitments only once, while tax authorities conduct indirect monitoring and subsequent inspections based on performance assessments./
