Companies in Vietnam are registered through the Cổng thông tin quốc gia về đăng ký doanh nghiệp (National Business Registration Portal) at dangkykinhdoanh.gov.vn, operated by the Cục Quản lý đăng ký kinh doanh (Agency for Business Registration). Registration itself is carried out locally by the business registration office of the provincial finance department, and the resulting data is held in the Hệ thống thông tin quốc gia về đăng ký doanh nghiệp (National Business Registration Information System), the official source of enterprise data nationwide.

The company registry in Vietnam

The framework rests on the Luật Doanh nghiệp (Enterprise Law) as amended with effect from 1 July 2025, and on Nghị định số 168/2025/NĐ-CP về đăng ký doanh nghiệp (Decree No. 168/2025/ND-CP on Enterprise Registration), issued on 30 June 2025 and in force from 1 July 2025, together with the accompanying circular on registration forms.

Registration operates at two levels. At provincial level the business registration office within the finance department registers enterprises whose head office is in that province, and the management boards of special economic zones register entities located within their zones. At commune level, the Phòng Kinh tế — or, depending on the unit, the Phòng Kinh tế, Hạ tầng và Đô thị — registers hộ kinh doanh (business households). Decree 168/2025 establishes a national enterprise registration information system managed by the finance ministry and, as a component of it, a separate business household registration information system; both are the official sources of business data.

Vietnam therefore does not put every business in one place. Enterprises with legal personality and private enterprises go into the enterprise register; the business household — the small family trader, which is the most numerous form of business activity in the country — is registered at commune level into its own linked system. Cooperatives are registered under separate cooperative legislation.

The portal itself exposes three distinct services: online business registration at dangkyquamang.dkkd.gov.vn, the business information service at dichvuthongtin.dkkd.gov.vn for looking up registration data, and the electronic gazette at bocaodientu.dkkd.gov.vn, in which the content of every registration is announced. The portal also publishes monthly statistics on newly registered enterprises, resumptions of activity and suspensions.

The most significant recent change is the introduction of beneficial ownership. Under the amended Enterprise Law and Decree 168/2025, an enterprise must declare its chủ sở hữu hưởng lợi (beneficial owner): an individual who directly or indirectly owns 25 per cent or more of the charter capital or of the voting shares, or who controls the appointment and dismissal of members of the board of management, the director or general director, or decisions on major organisational changes. The declaration covers the beneficial owner’s name, identification number and ownership percentage, with organisational details where the owner is an entity, and changes must be notified.

One note on institutions: the National Business Registration Portal’s own contact pages still identify the Ministry of Planning and Investment as the operator, while Decree 168/2025 places the national registration information system under the finance ministry following the 2025 reorganisation of central government. Both descriptions appear on official Vietnamese sources, and the practical point for users is unchanged — the portal address and the local registration offices remain the same.

Legal forms that can be registered in Vietnam

  • Công ty trách nhiệm hữu hạn một thành viên (Single-member Limited Liability Company) — owned by one organisation or individual, whose liability is limited to the charter capital. The standard vehicle for a wholly owned subsidiary, including foreign-owned ones.
  • Công ty trách nhiệm hữu hạn hai thành viên trở lên (Multi-member Limited Liability Company) — from 2 to 50 members, each liable up to their capital contribution; capital contributions are transferable only under statutory pre-emption rules.
  • Công ty cổ phần (Joint Stock Company) — at least 3 shareholders and no maximum; capital divided into shares, shareholders liable up to the value of their shares. The only form that may issue shares to the public and be listed.
  • Công ty hợp danh (Partnership) — at least two general partners who are individuals and are liable with all their assets, optionally with contributing partners liable only up to their contributions. Used mainly by regulated professional practices.
  • Doanh nghiệp tư nhân (Private Enterprise / sole proprietorship enterprise) — owned by one individual who is liable with all their property; it has no separate legal personality, may not issue securities and one individual may own only one such enterprise.
  • Hộ kinh doanh (Business Household) — the small trader registered at commune level, owned by an individual or the members of a household, with liability extending to all their assets. It is registered in the business household registration information system rather than in the enterprise register.
  • Hợp tác xã và liên hiệp hợp tác xã (Cooperative and union of cooperatives) — member-owned entities governed by cooperative legislation and registered under that separate regime.
  • Chi nhánh (Branch) — a dependent unit of an enterprise that may carry out all or part of its business, including acting as an authorised representative; it receives its own registration certificate.
  • Văn phòng đại diện (Representative Office) — a dependent unit acting as an authorised representative and protecting the enterprise’s interests, without conducting business; likewise separately registered.
  • Địa điểm kinh doanh (Business Location) — a place where an enterprise carries on specified activities, notified to the registration authority.

Foreign investors typically operate through a single-member or multi-member limited liability company or a joint stock company; foreign-invested projects also require an investment registration certificate under the investment legislation before the enterprise registration certificate is issued.

Information available from the Vietnamese registry

The National Business Registration Information System is the official source of enterprise data, and the National Business Registration Portal is the public window onto it. The information service allows any user to look up an enterprise and obtain its registration data, while the electronic gazette publishes the content of every registration — incorporations, changes and terminations — as a matter of public announcement, which is how registered facts become effective against third parties in practice.

A registration record covers the enterprise name in Vietnamese and, where registered, in a foreign language and abbreviated form; the enterprise code, which doubles as the tax code; the head office address; the legal form; the charter capital; the legal representative or representatives; the owner, members or founding shareholders; the business lines by the Vietnamese economic activity classification; the branches, representative offices and business locations; and the status of the enterprise, whether operating, suspended, dissolved or subject to revocation of its certificate.

Beneficial ownership information is collected but is not an open public dataset. Enterprises must declare the individuals meeting the 25 per cent ownership or control tests, and the data is held in the registration system for use by the competent authorities under the anti-money-laundering framework; no public beneficial-ownership search facility could be confirmed on the official portal at the time of writing.

Financial statements are likewise not part of the business register’s public layer. Vietnamese enterprises file their annual accounts with the tax authority and the statistics office, while public companies disclose through the securities-market channels supervised by the State Securities Commission. Personal identification data of owners and representatives is held in the registration file rather than published in full.

Documents that can be obtained from the registry

  • Giấy chứng nhận đăng ký doanh nghiệp (Enterprise Registration Certificate) — the certificate confirming that an enterprise is registered, carrying the enterprise code which simultaneously serves as the tax registration certificate. Decree 168/2025 makes clear that it is a registration record, not a business licence.
  • Giấy chứng nhận đăng ký hoạt động chi nhánh, văn phòng đại diện (Certificate of registration of a branch or representative office) — the separate certificate issued for each dependent unit in its own jurisdiction.
  • Giấy chứng nhận đăng ký hộ kinh doanh (Business Household Registration Certificate) — the certificate issued at commune level to a registered business household.
  • Bản sao Giấy chứng nhận đăng ký doanh nghiệp (Copy of the Enterprise Registration Certificate) — a certified copy issued by the registration authority for use with banks, counterparties and public bodies.
  • Điều lệ công ty (Company Charter) — the constitutional document filed on registration and on each amendment, showing capital, governance and representation.
  • Thông tin đăng ký doanh nghiệp (Enterprise registration information) — registration data supplied through the portal’s business information service, the standard route for due diligence on a Vietnamese counterparty.
  • Bố cáo điện tử (Electronic gazette announcements) — the published announcements of registration content, incorporations, changes, suspensions and dissolutions.
  • Thông báo thay đổi nội dung đăng ký doanh nghiệp (Notifications of change of registration content) — the filed records of changes of name, address, capital, legal representative, owners or beneficial owners.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are Vietnamese companies registered?

With the business registration office of the provincial finance department where the head office is located, or with the management board of a special economic zone. Filings and public lookups run through the National Business Registration Portal at dangkykinhdoanh.gov.vn.

What law governs enterprise registration in Vietnam?

The Enterprise Law as amended with effect from 1 July 2025, together with Decree No. 168/2025/ND-CP of 30 June 2025 on enterprise registration, in force from 1 July 2025.

What company forms exist in Vietnam?

The single-member limited liability company, the multi-member limited liability company, the joint stock company, the partnership and the private enterprise. Business households and cooperatives are registered under their own regimes.

Who is a beneficial owner under Vietnamese law?

An individual who directly or indirectly owns 25 per cent or more of the charter capital or voting shares, or who controls the appointment and dismissal of board members, the director or general director, or decisions on major organisational changes. Their name, identification number and ownership percentage must be declared.

Is a Vietnamese enterprise registration certificate a business licence?

No. It records that the enterprise is registered and carries the enterprise code that also functions as the tax registration certificate; conditional business lines require separate licences.

Are Vietnamese company accounts public?

Not through the business register. Annual financial statements are filed with the tax and statistics authorities, and public companies disclose through the securities market.

Sources

  • Cổng thông tin quốc gia về đăng ký doanh nghiệp (National Business Registration Portal) — dangkykinhdoanh.gov.vn
  • Nghị định số 168/2025/NĐ-CP về đăng ký doanh nghiệp (Decree No. 168/2025/ND-CP on Enterprise Registration), Cơ sở dữ liệu quốc gia về văn bản pháp luật — vanban.chinhphu.vn
  • Toàn văn Nghị định 168/2025/NĐ-CP về đăng ký doanh nghiệp (full text), Cổng thông tin điện tử Chính phủ — xaydungchinhsach.chinhphu.vn
  • Nghị định 168/2025/NĐ-CP on the National Business Registration Portal — dangkykinhdoanh.gov.vn
  • Bộ Tư pháp — 8 điểm mới của Luật sửa đổi Luật Doanh nghiệp có hiệu lực từ 01/7/2025 (Ministry of Justice on the amended Enterprise Law) — htpldn.moj.gov.vn

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