Vietnam's new e-transaction regulations take effect, making independent website signing capabilities an entry threshold

Decree No. 23/2026/ND-CP of Vietnam will come into effect on August 15, 2026. According to the information provided, B2B independent websites targeting the Vietnamese market will be required to integrate an electronic contract signing module recognized by the Vietnam National Digital Signature Authentication Center (CA-VN) and implement blockchain-based evidence preservation throughout the entire contract signing process. For websites that rely on online contract signing to advance transactions, this means that electronic transaction capabilities are shifting from an optional feature to a market access requirement.

The more direct impact concerns platform access. Based on the information provided, non-compliant websites will be unable to access Vietnam’s mainstream B2B procurement platform, VinaTrade, or the government e-GP tendering system. As a result, compliance will no longer be merely an internal matter for legal or technical teams; it will directly affect order acquisition, customer conversion, and eligibility for platform partnerships.

What Does This Change Indicate?

From the design of the rules, the new requirements cover both electronic contract signing and the retention of contract signing records. The former emphasizes the compliance of signer identities and signing actions, while the latter extends evidence preservation requirements to the transaction process records themselves. For companies that have already established independent websites in the Vietnamese market, website localization may no longer focus solely on page language, payment, and logistics information. It may also need to extend to the complete processes of contract generation, signing, verification, archiving, and traceability.

This also sends a clear signal: competition among B2B cross-border transaction websites is shifting beyond traffic and presentation capabilities toward the completeness of compliant transaction infrastructure. Particularly when procurement platforms and government tendering systems become linked to website capabilities, whether the contract signing module complies with local requirements may become a prerequisite affecting cooperation opportunities.

Practical Impact on Independent Website Operations

In the short term, the B2B independent websites most likely to be affected are those conducting inquiries, quotations, order placements, and contract confirmations for the Vietnamese market. Companies will need to re-examine whether their existing signing processes support Vietnamese localization, whether their signing modules meet recognition requirements, and whether the evidence chain after signing can be completely retained.

If existing websites still limit contract confirmation to email correspondence, attachment exchanges, or signing tools operated outside the website, they may encounter process gaps when subsequently connecting to local procurement platforms and tendering systems. For technical teams, this is not merely a matter of integrating a single plug-in. It may involve coordinated adjustments to front-end interactions, account systems, contract templates, signing node design, and back-end evidence preservation workflows.

Potential Developments Worth Monitoring

Based on the information currently available, future industry attention may focus on two areas: first, how the technical details of the relevant requirements will be implemented in actual platform access; and second, whether platforms and tendering systems will further clarify their criteria for reviewing “compliant” status. These factors will determine the actual duration of system modifications, the difficulty of integration, and the practical level of compliance costs for companies.

According to the information sources, this article was generated solely based on the title, date, and event summary provided for this briefing. Subsequent assessments still need to be continuously informed by publicly available information from regulatory authorities, official announcements, platform access rules, and the progress of each company’s own system modifications.