Participants at the conference. — Photo courtesy of VCCI

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) concluded a four-day international conference on pharmaceutical regulatory system reform and capacity building for health authorities on Friday.

The conference series, held December 16-19 in Hà Nội, attracted over 300 in-person participants and 800 online attendees, including officials from the Drug Administration Department under the Ministry of Health, international experts from APEC economies, and representatives from pharmaceutical companies and research institutions. 

Organised in collaboration with the Drug Administration Department and supported by the APEC Health Working Group, the event provided a platform for sharing experiences and best practices from WHO, APEC economies and other Asian countries. The discussions aimed to help harmonise Vietnam's pharmaceutical regulations with international standards and facilitate healthcare trade and investment across APEC economies.

"The project not only modernises the drug registration system and shortens processing time, increasing patient access, but also harmonises the legal framework and positively impacts pharmaceutical trade and investment in ASEAN and APEC," said Đậu Anh Tuấn, VCCI’s Deputy Secretary General and Head of the Legal Department.

The conference addressed four critical areas across its four-day programme. It covered four main topics, including Good Regulatory Practice based on WHO guidelines; reference mechanisms for drug registration under the new Circular 12/2025/TT-BYT; Việt Nam's roadmap for joining the Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S); and vaccine supply management. Experts from APEC economies, Malaysia's regulatory agency, and Vietnamese officials discussed implementation strategies, risk mitigation and digital applications in pharmaceutical oversight.

The conference comes as Việt Nam implements its National Strategy for Pharmaceutical Industry Development through 2030, with a vision to 2045, approved in 2023, to position the country as a regional hub for high-value pharmaceutical production.

In September 2025, Việt Nam's Politburo issued Resolution 72-NQ/TW outlining breakthrough solutions to strengthen healthcare protection and improve public health, calling for a modern, equitable and effective healthcare system. Việt Nam also amended its Pharmaceutical Law in 2024, introducing more progressive provisions compared to the 2016 law to attract investment and promote research, development and production of drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients.

The Ministry of Health has accelerated administrative reforms and digital transformation in licensing procedures. As of now, all pharmaceutical supply facilities in 34 provinces and cities have been interconnected, with databases covering over 50,000 types of drugs and raw materials publicly available.

Việt Nam 's pharmaceutical market is experiencing growth, with domestic facilities increasingly mastering biotechnology for specialised drug production. — VNS