Trade promotion in Vietnam

Trade promotion in Vietnam is mainly governed by Commercial Law No. 36/2005/QH11 adopted by the National Assembly on 14 June 2005, and its supplements and revisions (“Commercial Law”) and its guiding documents, notably Decree No. 81/2018/ND-CP of the Government dated 22 May 2018 detailing the regulations of the Commercial Law on promotional programs as amended by Decree No. 17/2020/ND-CP dated 5 February 2020 (“Decree 81”).

The law permits only specific entities to conduct promotional programs in Vietnam:

1. Vietnamese business entities;

2. Branches of Vietnamese business entities; and

3. Branches of foreign business entities in Vietnam.

Accordingly, any offshore entity is not allowed to hold promotional programs in Vietnam for its products and services. 

Trade promotion programs include the following forms:

1. Giving sample goods and providing sample services to customers for trial use free of charge (“Sample Promotion”);

1. Giving goods as: gifts to customers or providing free services involving purchase and sale of such goods or services; or gifts to customers or providing free services not involving purchase and sale of such goods or services (collectively, “Gift Promotion”);

1. Selling goods or providing services at prices lower than the prior selling prices of goods or prior service charges (“Discount Promotion”);

2. Selling goods or providing services to customers together with coupons for purchase of goods or use of services (“Voucher Promotion”);

3. Selling goods or providing services together with contest forms for customers, from among which the winners will be selected in accordance with announced rules and will win announced prizes (“Contest Promotion”);

4. Selling goods or providing services together with participation in lucky draw programs where participation in the program is closely connected to the purchase of the goods or use of the services, and winning a prize is based on the luck of the participant in accordance with announced rules and prizes (“Lucky Draw Promotion”);

5. Holding programs for regular customers (“Customer Rewards Program”);

6. Organizing customer participation in cultural, artistic and entertainment programs or other events for promotional purposes (“Customer Participation Program”); and

7. Other forms of promotion if approved by the relevant authorities (“Other Approved Promotion”). 

Depending on the nature of a promotional program, it must be notified or registered with either the provincial Department of Industry or Trade or the Ministry of Industry of Trade before it is launched.