This article presents a critique of the Vietnamese Law on Competition, which entered into force on 1 July 2005. The fact that one of the ‘tiger’ economies enacted a competition law has gone largely unremarked, with very little being written about this law in English. While the lack of examination of the terms of the law may reflect simply a prioritization among the international community I argue here that other factors are also at play. At the time of writing only one formal decision has been made by the relevant enforcement authority. This lack of activity has undoubtedly had an impact on the profile enjoyed by the law, both inside and outside Vietnam. The regime is under-enforced, and although the authorities have undertaken advocacy work, recognition of the law within the country is only slowly growing. The external community may be as influenced by the structure of the law, which I argue here is overly complex and, partly as a result of this very complexity, lacking in clarity as it is by institutional dynamics. Some of the problems that beset the law at present are discussed and commented on here.
World Competition