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Decree on biosafety  for genetically modified organisms, genetic specimens and products of genetically modifiedorganisms, Provides for: risk assessment of GMO s; the basis for biosafety certificates, eligibility for use as food or animal feed; conditions for production, trade, import, export, transportation, and storage; and accreditation of laboratories

Under Viet Nam's five-year land-use plan (2011-15), and land-use planning until 2020, the area reserved for the development of industrial zones is set to increase to 130,000 hectares by 2015, and to 200,000 hectares by 2020. Viet Nam is also seeking to enhance the quality of investments in the industrial zones, giving priority to high-technology, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly projects.

Efforts have been made to promote renewable energy sources as well as energy saving and efficiency. 

Efforts have been made to promote renewable energy sources, and energy saving and efficiency. The energy sector remains dominated by cross-owned state enterprises.

Despite Viet Nam's great potential, there has been no significant commercial production from renewable energy sources (i.e., geothermal, solar, wind, tidal, wood or waste ) so far, as production costs are seemingly too high to be attractive for the state-owned single buyer, Electricity of Viet Nam Group (EVN, section 4.4.2.1). In recent years, the authorities have become more aware and involved in renewable energy and energy efficiency development in order to contribute to national energy security and to cope with future electricity shortages while diminishing carbon fuel dependence. In 2007, Prime Minister's Decision No. 130 provided for tax breaks, land-leasing preference, and investment credits for a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) also covering wind-power plants, as part of a global UN initiative; the Government indicated its intention to subsidize some CDM projects through the Vietnam Environmental Protection Fund. A June 2010 Law on Energy Saving and Efficiency (which entered into force on 1 January 2011) provides for incentives for energy efficiency and conservation as well as clean er production measures, and new environmental tax measures to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy indirectly by introducing taxes on oil, gas, and coal, and specific pollutants.  A Prime Minister Decision was passed in September 2011, promulgating the list of devices and equipment subject to energy labelling, the application of the minimum energy efficiency requirements, and the relevant implementation roadmap until 2014. MOIT Circulars regulating the training and issuing of certificates for energy administration and energy auditing, energy labelling for means and equipment of energy utilization, the planning and report of the implementation schedule for energy saving and efficiency, and the implementation of energy auditing were issued in 2011 and 2012. An October 2012 National Targeted Programme on Energy Saving and Efficiency, and phase 2012-2015, budgeted at ₫930 billion, provides for wide-ranging action involving several other activities (e.g. steel, cement, textiles and apparel, construction, transportation) aimed at achieving savings of 5%-8% of the total energy consumption of the country. The MOIT has submitted to the Government projections to increase the share of non-hydro renewables (including wind power, geothermal power, solar power, and biofuels), in total primary commercial energy from around 2% to 3% in 2010, 5% in 2020, and 11% in 2050. In March 2011, MOIT was urged to complete policies to support wind projects and set up favourable conditions for investors. As a result, in 2012 regulations were issued on the mechanism for developing wind power, implementation of wind-power development projects, and samples of power sale-purchase contracts for wind-power projects.  Under the solar-power cooperation programme between France and Viet Nam, a solar station was installed in Ho Chi Minh City to provide electricity for the Gia Lai, Quang Nam, and Binh Phuoc provinces.338 Following the passing of the AtomicEnergy Law in June 2008, construction of two nuclear power plants was approved in 2009. In 2010, the Russian Federation's Rosatom was awarded a contract to build Viet Nam's first nuclear power plant (Ninh Thuan 1) and put it into operation by 2020; and Japan was to build a second plant (Ninh Thuan 2) operational in 2021. Despite the Fukushima accident in Japan, the Government decided to continue with its nuclear power programme and put emphasis on serious safety considerations. The Viet Nam Atomic EnergyCommission estimates that nuclear power could provide 15%-20% of the country's energy requirement by 2030. No further relevant information on the progress of plans (e.g. stages, cost, and beneficiaries) was available from the authorities.

In order to attain the objectives of the national socio-economic development strategy and in particular to help the process of national industrialization and modernization under market economy conditions, the Government has adopted in 2007 the "National Energy Development Strategy up to 2020 with 2050 Vision". The strategy provides that the national energy system should be developed in line with the trend of international integration, by efficiently using domestic energy sources and rationally exploiting and using foreign resources , while effectively creating regional and global energy cooperation and developing an independent and self-reliant economy. It requires the creation of an energy market conducive to fair competition, the promotion of new and renewable energies, bio-energy and nuclear power in order to meet the requirements of socio-economic development. It also requires accelerating the removal of energy subsidies and energy monopoly striving to end the pursuit of social policies through energy prices.

Greater competition and private participation in energy distribution would eventually bring about an improvement in efficiency and a reduction in transmission losses.

The "National Master Plan for Power Development in the 2011-2020 Period, with Considerations to 2030" adopted in 2011 requires that electricity sales prices will be defined in accordance with market mechanisms, aiming to encourage investment in the development of the electricity sector while encouraging electricity conservation. Regarding the market structure of the electric power sector, the Master Plan goes beyond the stated objective of the 2007 Strategy by envisioning the progressive development of a competitive electricity market in which the State has only a monopoly in the electricity transmission grid in order to ensure security of the national energy system.

The July 2011 National Power Development Plan for Period 2011-2020 with Perspective to 2030 (Power Development Plan VII (PDPVII)) provides, inter alia, for: development of a competitive electricity market with diversified forms of investment and electricity sale; continuation of the state monopoly in the power transmission network in order to ensure security of the national energy system; the electrification programme in rural, mountainous, and island areas; priority to the development of hydro-power plants, especially those having multi-purposes such as flood control, water supply, electricity generation; and increasing renewable energy resources from 3.5% of total electricity production in 2010 to 4.5% in 2020 and 6.0% in 2030. By 2020, total power plant capacity is planned to be about 75,000 MW: coal-fired power 48%; hydro-power 23.1%; gas-fired 16.5%; renewable energy 5.6%; nuclear 1.3%; and imported power 3.1%. The shares of coal-fired, renewable energy , nuclear, and imported power are to increase. It is questionable how environmentally friendly and CDM-consistent is the rise in the share of coal-fired plants. According to PDPVII the total capital investment required for the power sector is about ₫929.7 trillion for 2011-20 (about US$4.88 billion/year on average), of which two thirds for power-generation development and the rest for power-network development. The MOIT is set to remove subsidies and end EVN's monopoly as part of its long-term strategy for 2020-50.

To promote the use of environmentally friendly energy resources  in power generation, the Government is encouraging the development of renewable electric power plants. On 29 June 2011, the Government promulgated the Decision No. 37/2011/QD-TTg which has set up an incentive mechanism for wind energy project developments that obliges distributors to buy electric power generated from windenergy and introduces feed-in tariffs for grid-connected wind power projects.