ALIN Legislative News
From
Institute of State and Law,
Vietnam
Academy of Social Sciences
Vietnam: The 2025 Law on Science,
Technology and Innovation - Supplementing Sandbox Mechanism to Promote
Innovation
Experimentation and Commercialization
The 2025 Law on Science, Technology and Innovation
(Law No. 93/2025/QH15, effective from October 1, 2025) was promulgated in the
context of Vietnam strongly transitioning to a growth model based on knowledge,
technology, and innovation. Compared to the 2013 Law on Science and Technology,
the 2025 Law represents a developmental step in institutional thinking by
placing innovation at the center of development policy, while establishing a
flexible legal mechanism -- a sandbox -- to promote the testing of new technologies,
products, and business models. The focus of the 2025 Law is to perfect policies
promoting the development of the science, technology and innovation ecosystem,
with five important innovation groups.
The Law identifies "innovation" as an
independent component within the legal structure for science and technology.
This approach expands the scope of regulation to include enterprises, research
institutions, universities, and innovation intermediary organizations --
entities directly involved in the process of commercializing knowledge and
research results.
The Law grants ownership of research results using
the state budget to the host organization, including enterprises, research
institutes, and universities, thereby encouraging technology transfer and
commercialization of research products. This policy marks a shift from a
centralized public intellectual property asset management model to an
"empowerment -- accountability" model, consistent with international
practices and principles of modern scientific governance (Article 41).
The Law emphasizes the central role of enterprises
in innovation, especially science and technology enterprises and innovative
startups. Many support policies are institutionalized, such as tax incentives,
credit, public-private venture capital funds, and linkage mechanisms between
enterprises and institutes/universities.
A breakthrough new point is the controlled testing
mechanism (sandbox) in science, technology and innovation. According to the new
regulations, a sandbox is an institutional framework allowing for the testing
of new policies, technologies, or business models within a defined scope,
period, and conditions under the supervision of competent state agencies. This
mechanism is designed to:
- Create a flexible legal space for innovative
experimentation without violating current laws;
- Allow for the assessment of risks,
effectiveness, and scalability of new technologies before replication;
- Provide practical evidence for adjusting and
perfecting science and technology laws and policies.
The sandbox mechanism is expected to become an
adaptive management tool, helping Vietnam balance the promotion of innovation
with the control of legal and social risks, especially in emerging fields such
as artificial intelligence, big data, biotechnology, and the digital economy.
The Law continues to consolidate principles of
scientific integrity, professional ethics, and information transparency in
research activities and the publication of scientific results. The specific
stipulation of prohibited acts such as data fabrication, plagiarism, or misuse
of public funding demonstrates a commitment to building an honest, transparent,
and reliable scientific environment.
The Law more strongly links science, technology
and innovation policies with the goals of sustainable development, digital
transformation, and the green economy. Support policies for research on
environmentally friendly technologies, renewable energy, and the circular
economy are integrated into the national orientation for green growth.
Overall, the 2025 Law on Science, Technology and
Innovation not only perfects the legal framework for research and development
but also establishes an experimental -- learning -- adaptive governance model
through the sandbox mechanism. This is considered an important institutional
step forward, bringing Vietnam closer to a sustainable knowledge-based and
innovation-driven economy.
Author:
Dr. Pham Thi Huong Lan
Topics:
Science, Technology and Innovation
Jurisdiction: Vietnam
Date:
November 8, 2025