As befits a government still shedding its communist heritage, Vietnam has a long list of businesses in which neither locals nor foreigners are allowed to engage. There are 51 business sectors, such as the production of pharmaceuticals or the manufacture of “depraved cultural or superstitious products,” in which investment is prohibited. There are also 386 businesses where special conditions apply. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has decided, however, that these lists are an excessive barrier to investment. He wants the banned business sectors cut from 51 to eight and the conditional business sectors lopped from 386 to 330.
