Highlights of the Law on Digital Transformation

The law was passed by the National Assembly in December 2025, making Vietnam one of the first countries in the world to promulgate a separate law on digital transformation.

According to the drafting agency, over the years, Vietnam has implemented digital transformation, gradually completing the legal corridor for this activity with many specialized laws such as the Law on Electronic Transactions, the Law on Telecommunications, the Law on Digital Technology Industry... However, these are still fragmentary pieces, lacking unified regulations and systematization of general views and orientations on the digital nation. That is why the Digital Transformation Law was born.

The law consists of 8 chapters, 48 ​​articles, built in the direction of "framework law", connecting existing specialized regulations and adding missing pieces such as digital economy, digital society, and digital transformation infrastructure. The law also establishes a coordination mechanism at the national level for issues beyond the scope of each specialized law.

Systematize the concept of digital transformation

According to the National Digital Transformation Department, a notable point of the law is that for the first time, Vietnam has built a unified and complete conceptual system on digital transformation.

The representative of the drafting agency said that in the past, many concepts related to digital transformation were commonly used but there was no common legal basis for reference. The new law not only clarifies concepts but also specifically defines what digital transformation activities are, creating a basis for ministries, branches and localities to implement.

On that foundation, the law establishes coordination tools at the national scale such as the national digital transformation program, the overall digital national architecture framework, the data governance framework, the digital capacity framework and a unified set of indicators. These are important tools, serving the coordination and organization of digital transformation.

For digital systems, the law sets out design principles and general requirements, aiming to build smart digital systems that proactively serve people instead of just providing services in a one-way, passive way.

Special financial regulations

In addition to clarifying concepts, the Law on Digital Transformation also legislates resources for digital transformation for the first time, stipulating a minimum spending level of 1% of the annual state budget for digital transformation. The drafting agency said that this is the basis for ministries, branches and localities to develop tasks, projects, programs and allocate resources for digital transformation.

To narrow the digital gap, the State prioritizes allocating digital transformation resources higher than the national average for border areas, islands, ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, and areas with difficult and especially difficult socio-economic conditions.

The law also provides a separate mechanism for investment projects and procurement of systems that are not yet on the market or have no precedent. This is a group of projects that are often difficult to identify and evaluate. Accordingly, the law has funding for the development and testing of products, goods or systems that are not available on the market, and also has a process for selecting implementing units.

In addition, the State will have financial support measures and other forms of support for small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives, and business households to transform digitally and participate in digital economic development activities.

Trong Dat