Decree declares state monopoly in 20 goods, services

The decree lists the goods and services as follows:

1. Goods and services used for defense and security purposes;

2. Production, trade, import-export and transit transport of industrial explosives;

3. Production of gold bars;

4. Export-import of material gold for making gold bars

5. Issuing state lottery;

6. Import of cigarettes and cigars (exclusive of duty-free stores);

7. Management, export-import, purchase, sale, storage and preservation of goods named in the national reserves list;

8. Money printing and minting;

9. Issuance of Vietnam’s postal stamps;

10. Production, export-import, purchase, sale, transport and storage of fireworks and supply of related services;

11. Transmitting and controlling the national power grid; construction and operation of multi-purpose hydropower plants and nuclear power facilities of special socio-economic importance;

12. Public services ensuring navigation safety (operation of lighthouses and public navigational passages);

13. Management and operation of coastal information facilities;

14. Services related to flight control, aviation information and aviation search & rescue;

15. Management and exploitation of national and urban railway infrastructures invested by the State, exclusive of maintenance services;

16. Management and exploitation of inter-provincial, inter-district irrigation and water supply systems for agriculture, and sea embankments;

17. Supply of forestry services in special-use forests, exclusive of forests for sightseeing that the State leases to economic organizations to protect and develop for tourism purposes;

18. Publishing, exclusive of printing and distribution activities;

19. Maintenance, management and exploitation of public postal service networks;

20. Supply of public services for newspaper publishing.

The decree points out that the State only holds monopoly in essential goods and services that are related to defence and security and national interests or in areas which the private sector does not wish to operate in or is not capable of doing.