Vietnam One Person Company (OPC): What It Means for Business in 2026

Vietnam has been making a lot of noise lately about opening up its economy. New investment laws, digital ID rollouts, simplified tax regimes, relaxed foreign ownership rules. But tucked inside Resolution No. 86/NQ-CP, issued on April 5, 2026, is one policy direction that has not gotten nearly enough attention outside of local business circles: the government’s plan to pilot a formal legal model for the “One Person Company,” or OPC.

For expats and foreign businesses operating in Vietnam, this development is worth understanding, even if you are not the target demographic for the policy itself. It signals how Vietnam is thinking about its business environment, where the regulatory energy is going, and what kind of competition and market dynamics may emerge as the country formalizes a huge informal economy. The direction of travel here has implications for everyone building something in this market.

What Is a One Person Company, Exactly?

The concept is simple, even if the legal framework is still taking shape. An OPC, or “Doanh nghiệp 1 người” in Vietnamese, is a business owned and operated by a single individual, built to function as a fully legal entity rather than a loose informal arrangement. To be clear, the OPC is a proposed model, not yet a legal form you can register; solo founders today use a single-member LLC or a sole proprietorship.

Think of it less as a “freelancer with a stamp” and more as a genuine business structure designed for the digital age. According to representatives from Vietnam’s Department of Startup and Technology Enterprises under the Ministry of Science and Technology, the OPC model is not simply an upgrade for freelancers. It is a new organizational form, one where an individual operates with full legal standing, structured processes, and a proper compliance trail.

The technology angle is what makes this genuinely interesting. With AI tools handling everything from accounting to customer service to content production, a single person can today realistically operate what used to require an entire team. The OPC model is built around this reality. It is designed for the era where one person and a laptop, with the right digital tools behind them, can run a real business.

For Vietnam specifically, the push behind OPC is also about formalizing a massive informal economy. Hundreds of thousands of online sellers, freelancers, consultants, and independent creators currently operate without clear legal identity. The OPC framework is intended to bring them into the formal system, with legal protections, tax obligations, and access to financial services that informal operators simply do not have today.

Vietnam currently has roughly one registered enterprise for every 100 citizens. By contrast, developed economies often run at one enterprise per 10 to 20 people. That gap represents an enormous untapped economic potential, and the OPC pilot is one of the government’s bets on how to close it.

How Is This Different from the Existing Single-Member LLC (Công ty TNHH Một Thành Viên)?

The OPC concept sounds familiar, and that is because Vietnam already has something that looks similar on the surface. Understanding the distinction matters.

The Single-Member Limited Liability Company, or Công ty TNHH Một Thành Viên, is a well-established legal entity under the Law on Enterprises. It is owned by a single individual or organization, has its own legal personality, and limits the owner’s liability to the amount of registered charter capital. It is one of the most widely used company structures in Vietnam today and is open to foreign investors.

Under the new Law on Investment No. 143/2025/QH15, which took effect on March 1, 2026, foreigners can own 100% of a Single-Member LLC in most open sectors, including IT, software, consulting, trading, and manufacturing. Restricted sectors such as banking, advertising, telecommunications, and parts of real estate, media, and healthcare still apply ownership caps or require a Vietnamese partner, so checking your specific sector remains an essential first step. One notably investor-friendly update under the 2026 law: any foreign investor can now set up the company and obtain the Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC) before completing the Investment Registration Certificate (IRC) procedure, provided it meets the market access conditions for foreign investors. Previously the IRC had to come first, and that route remains available. A company set up first must complete the IRC procedure within 12 months and cannot carry out its investment project until the IRC is issued. In practice, this can shave weeks off the time to a registered company.

That said, setting up a Single-Member LLC as a foreign investor still carries real compliance requirements. There is no statutory minimum capital for most sectors, but the charter capital you register needs to be credible enough to demonstrate operational feasibility to the licensing authority. Practitioners typically suggest a baseline in the range of $10,000 to $25,000 for standard service businesses, though the right number depends on your business model and what the Department of Finance expects to see. Capital must be fully contributed within 90 days of ERC issuance through an investment capital account at a licensed bank in Vietnam, which Circular 38/2026/TT-NHNN renamed from the direct investment capital account on 18 August 2026. Foreign-invested enterprises are also required to undergo annual financial audits by a licensed Vietnamese auditing firm.

The OPC, by contrast, is being built from the ground up for a very different kind of operator. Officials describe a model where tax obligations are simplified to the point of self-service, accounting is handled automatically through digital platforms, and compliance does not require a professional services team at all. The Ministry of Science and Technology frames it as “easy to enter, easy to operate, easy to comply.”

The key differences at a glance:

Single-Member LLC (existing, available now): Owned by one organization or one individual. Can be 100% foreign-owned in open sectors. Full corporate governance and reporting requirements apply. Charter capital must be registered and contributed within 90 days of ERC issuance. Annual financial audits mandatory for foreign-invested entities. Can employ staff, hold assets, and scale operations. Suited for businesses with structured operations and ongoing compliance needs.

OPC (proposed pilot, still being developed): Designed for individual operators only, not organizations. Emphasis on minimal compliance burden through digital-first tools. Aimed at solopreneurs, online sellers, freelancers, and first-time founders. No charter capital structure has been defined yet. Legal framework still being drafted as of mid-2026. According to press reports, in August and September 2026 the Prime Minister directed that mechanisms for one-person enterprises be considered in the draft Law on Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

As of now, no regulation specifies whether foreign nationals will be eligible to form an OPC. The policy discussion centers firmly on Vietnamese citizens, particularly those currently operating in the informal economy, and there is no public indication yet that the framework will extend to foreign individuals. For expats and foreign-based operators, this is worth keeping in mind. If eligibility is eventually broadened, it would open up a genuinely lighter entry path into the Vietnamese market. For now, other structures exist for foreigners looking to operate here formally, and we will cover those in a separate article.

What China’s Experience Shows

Vietnam is not developing this idea in isolation. China has been running its own version of this experiment for a while now, and the results offer useful context for anyone trying to understand what this model can realistically look like.

Several Chinese cities have actively supported the one-person company model, driven by a combination of high youth unemployment and the rapid adoption of AI productivity tools. The proposition is compelling: AI handles the operational functions that used to require a team, and a single person with domain expertise and strong execution can build a real, profitable business. In practice, Chinese solopreneurs are building everything from content studios and AI ad agencies to digital product businesses and consulting practices.

The experience confirms a few things. The model genuinely works for people who have a clear skill, a defined market, and the discipline to run their own operation. AI does meaningfully lower the cost and complexity of getting started. Local government support, in the form of simplified registration, subsidized infrastructure, and reduced compliance requirements, makes a real difference in how quickly people can formalize and scale.

For Vietnam, the China experience suggests the OPC framework will be most valuable as a legitimate on-ramp for the large population of skilled individuals who are already effectively running solo businesses informally and who mainly need a legal home and a simplified compliance structure to step into the formal economy.

How Vietnam Plans to Make This Work

According to Resolution 86/NQ-CP and supporting commentary from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Vietnam’s approach to the OPC pilot will involve several interconnected pieces.

On the regulatory side, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for preparing the pilot policy, working with the Ministry of Science and Technology, with a 2027 deadline. Resolution 86 names three features: a simple registration procedure done fully online, no requirement for a physical address in business registration, and an audit exemption for the first 3 years. Officials have also described a simplified tax and accounting system for OPC operators, with the explicit goal of reducing compliance costs to the point where a solo operator does not need an accountant to stay legal.

On the infrastructure side, digital platforms for accounting, tax filing, financial management, and even HR will be developed or adapted for individual operators. Legal assistance tools, including virtual assistants accessible down to the commune level, are also part of the plan. Press reports say the pilot is expected to start in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang before expanding nationally, though the resolution itself does not name these cities.

On the ecosystem side, the government’s National Strategy on Innovative Startups targets 5 million business entities, including at least 10,000 innovative startups, by 2030. It sets no target for OPCs, although Ministry of Science and Technology officials have cited a goal of about 1 million one-person enterprises by 2030 for the scheme being prepared. A network of sectoral incubators and at least 300 innovation spaces, centers, and clusters nationwide is planned. Mechanisms being studied include a dedicated stock exchange for startups and the securitization of intellectual property assets, which would open new funding channels for individuals who build their businesses on knowledge rather than physical assets.

The ambition is clear. Whether the execution matches it is a different question entirely.

The Honest Reality Check

AI infrastructure is still maturing. The tools that make a one-person operation viable at scale today are impressive, but they are also expensive, inconsistent, and heavily dependent on the operator knowing how to use them well. Running accounting through an AI tool still requires someone who understands what the numbers mean. Generating marketing content still requires someone with a grasp of the audience and the brand. AI amplifies capability. It does not replace judgment.

Vietnam’s regulatory environment, while moving faster than ever, is also still catching up to the ambitions in Resolution 86. As of the time of writing, there is no specific OPC law. There are no defined eligibility criteria. There is no published tax regime for solo operators under this model. What exists is a strong policy signal and a roadmap. The detailed implementation is still being worked out.

Where Things Stand

Vietnam is opening a door with the OPC model, but it is a door designed for a specific kind of operator: someone who is digitally capable, already operating informally in a knowledge or service-based field, and ready to bring their business into the formal system. It is not a blanket solution for all small business types, and the assumption that AI will handle everything remains, for now, more vision than reality. The people this model will genuinely serve are those who already have the skills and market. The framework gives them the legal standing to work with it properly.

Whether it will be implemented as cleanly as the roadmap suggests is a fair question. Vietnam has a track record of bold policy visions that take longer than expected to translate into street-level reality. The digital infrastructure, the simplified tax regime, the legal assistance tools, the startup ecosystem: all of these need to come together for the OPC to be more than a well-intentioned pilot.

One thing is not in question: AI is getting better, Vietnam is opening up, and the opportunity for individual operators, both local and foreign, is growing. If you are building something here, now is a good time to be paying attention.

If you are ready to register a company now rather than wait for the OPC pilot, our guide to opening a business in Vietnam covers today's route, from a single-member LLC to charter capital and tax.

At Easytiger, we help expats, foreigners, and businesses navigate the legal, tax, and compliance landscape in Vietnam. If you have questions about setting up a company in Vietnam, understanding your options under current law, reach out to the team.