Fairs, exhibitions and event organising (MICE) look like a ‘freely open’ service for foreign capital — and at the incorporation layer they are. This sector’s barriers sit at the per-event layer: every performance, every foreign artist, every trade fair carries its own approval procedure that the organiser must master before selling tickets or booths.
Market access by MICE event layer
- The company layer — event organising and trade fairs are ordinary commercial services; FDI firms may be 100% foreign-owned with trade promotion and fair-organising business lines under Commercial Law 36/2005/QH11.
- The trade fair layer — Decree 81/2018/ND-CP: organising a commercial fair or exhibition requires registration with the provincial Department of Industry and Trade (or notification where prescribed); displayed content must not be prohibited goods and must match the registration.
- The performance layer inside events — Decree 144/2020/ND-CP: artistic performances need approval from the culture authority; foreign artists performing in Vietnam need written approval per programme, with programme content conditions.
- The venue and event-safety layer — mass events at public venues require coordination with local authorities on security, fire safety and crowd plans; in practice this decides whether an event happens on the day, whatever industry licences exist.
A first-MICE-event path for FDI organisers
- Incorporate the events company with the right scope (trade fairs, conferences, performances) and build a template dossier set: fair registration, performance approval, venue contracts.
- For events with foreign artists: file approvals early per specific programme — no generic ‘in-principle approvals’ — and announce ticket sales only after the written approval lands.
- Lock security and fire-safety plans with the venue and local authorities into the organising contract, allocating each party’s duties if the event must be adjusted.
MICE is a sector where the company licence is only 20% of the legal risk — 80% sits in each individual event. FDI firms that build per-event approval workflows (fairs, performances, foreign artists, crowd safety) as a standard assembly line run events in Vietnam as smoothly as anywhere in the region.
Frequently asked questions
Can foreign-owned firms organise events?
Yes: 100% FDI events companies may run trade fairs and events; conditions sit at the event layer — fair registration, performance approval and venue safety.
Do we need a performance permit?
Events with artistic performances need an organisation approval from the culture authority under Decree 144/2020/ND-CP for each specific programme.
What do foreign artists need to perform?
Written approval for the foreign artist’s performance per programme, programme content dossiers, and the corresponding entry and performance procedures.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council
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