PRE-EVENT: VIETNAM HYDROGEN LEGAL AND REGULATORY FORUM 2026 ON MAY 29 2026 AT THE STARTUP AND INNOVATION HUB OF HCMC (SIHUB)

Hydrogen – Strategic Pillar or Test of Vietnam's Policy Implementation Capacity?

May 23, 2026 by VAHC Secretariat 

Vietnam has adopted a National Hydrogen Energy Development Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2050, approved under Decision No. 165/QĐ-TTg dated February 7, 2024. Specific targets have been set: 100,000 to 500,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030, and 10 to 20 million tonnes per year by 2050. Yet a fundamental question remains unanswered: how does Vietnamese law classify hydrogen – as an industrial gas, a hazardous chemical, or an independent energy carrier?

VAHC leader speaking at the workshop announcing the results of a survey of 930 businesses on hydrogen, organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in December 2025.

Current practice reveals that hydrogen lacks a unified legal classification within the system of regulatory instruments. The legal status of hydrogen currently falls into an inter-sectoral gap between the Law on Chemicals, the Law on Oil and Gas, and the Electricity Law. In the absence of a clear legal framework and technical standards, each hydrogen project will be forced to establish its own compliance requirements. The inevitable consequences are increased legal risks, delayed implementation, and significant obstacles to capital mobilisation.

The time has come for a dedicated forum to address the legal, standards and enforcement challenges facing Vietnam's hydrogen sector.

VIETNAM HYDROGEN LEGAL AND REGULATORY FORUM 2026

Theme: Legal Framework, Standards and Compliance for Hydrogen Development in Vietnam

Organiser: Vietnam ASEAN Hydrogen Club (VAHC) in coordination with relevant domestic and international hydrogen partners

Date and venue: 13:00-16:30 May 29, 2026 at the Startup and Innovation Hub of HCMC (SIHUB), 123 Trương Định Street, Xuân Hòa Ward, Ho Chi Minh City

Key Content to be Presented by VAHC Leadership

The overview presentation by VAHC is built upon field research, international benchmarking, and a survey of nearly 1,000 Vietnamese enterprises. Core issues to be analysed include:

1. Global Landscape: Hydrogen Has Moved from Research to Realisation

Global hydrogen production in 2024 reached approximately 100 million tonnes, yet over 99% remains grey hydrogen produced from fossil fuels. The race to transition to green hydrogen, blue hydrogen and white hydrogen is accelerating at remarkable speed.

Strategic questions will be raised: Why has the European Union imposed such stringent RFNBO regulations that many projects have been suspended? What enabled South Korea to pass the world's first dedicated Hydrogen Act? And why does Japan consider 2015 as the "first year of hydrogen" after decades of research and development?

2. Lessons from Pioneering Economies: Successes and Challenges from International Experience

• Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan (China): Roadmaps for technology development, refuelling station networks, fuel cell vehicles and dedicated legal frameworks. South Korea's experience in enacting its Hydrogen Act offers valuable insights.

• European Union, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Spain: Approaches to balancing stringent environmental standards with market development. Warnings that overly strict standards may hinder first‑of‑a‑kind projects.

• Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia: The emergence of regional hydrogen corridors. Australia is becoming Asia's hydrogen "power bank" – Vietnam could play a key role in the regional supply chain.

3. Proposed Roadmap for Vietnam: No Delay in Building Legal Framework and Standards

• Current legal classification gap: Hydrogen is currently subject to fragmented regulation under industrial gas, hazardous chemical and energy carrier provisions. The absence of a unified legal status creates risks for both regulators and investors.

• Strategy‑implementation gap: Survey results show that while 58.5% of enterprises consider hydrogen important in the medium to long term, 80% have not yet used hydrogen and 68% have no significant deployment activities. The greatest barriers are not technological but rather the unclear legal framework, incomplete standards, and concerns over investment risk.

• ISO/TC 197 – Technical backbone for hydrogen infrastructure: This is the international technical committee on hydrogen technologies, establishing standards for safety, transport, storage, refuelling stations and fuel cells. Vietnam currently has no national TCVN standards aligned with ISO/TC 197. Without early domestication, each project will apply different standards – leading to increased costs and safety control difficulties.

• VAHC's proposed roadmap: A national action plan with specific targets – number of vehicles, number of refuelling stations, annual hydrogen output, phase‑by‑phase timeline, and a list of priority projects. A "from easy to difficult" approach, starting with bankable pilot projects, then selectively expanding based on real‑world data on costs and demand.

Target Audience

• Policymakers

• Enterprises in energy, chemicals, oil refining, petrochemicals, steel, logistics and other sectors facing deep decarbonisation pressure

• Investors, financial institutions and green credit providers

• Consultants, researchers and lawyers specialising in energy and environmental law

• International partners implementing hydrogen projects in Vietnam, including Obayashi, Japan‑Korea‑EU joint ventures

What Makes This Forum Unique

• Direct dialogue with organisations operating real‑world hydrogen projects in Vietnam

• Latest updates from competent authorities on the drafting of subordinate legislation and technical standards

• Networking opportunities with VAHC members – pioneering enterprises in electrolyser manufacturing, refuelling stations and equipment exports to the EU market

Message from VAHC

Hydrogen is both a strategic opportunity for Vietnam to achieve its net‑zero emissions target by 2050 and a test of the country's capacity for inter‑ministerial policy coordination and its ability to translate strategy into concrete investment projects. If the issues of legal framework and technical standards are not resolved decisively at this stage, the competitive advantage in hydrogen will be lost on the domestic market itself.

Registration

Seats are limited. Registration can be made via filling this form

Vietnam Hydrogen Legal and Regulatory Forum 2026 – where critical decisions for the future of energy are shaped.

This preparatory document is based on VAHC's detailed outline and the results of a survey of nearly 1,000 Vietnamese enterprises on opportunities, challenges and barriers to hydrogen market development. The survey carried out by MoIT of Vietnam in 2025