Vietnam plans to become world's top yachting destination

The plan presented by Hoàng Hồng Giang, deputy director of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, includes a roadmap to positioning the country as a competitive player and a top destination in the world’s yacht market

To develop the industry Vietnam intends to expand cooperation and joint ventures with international investors and brands to produce and supply high-quality yachts and yachting services. Industry leaders urge the Ministry to used Hong Kong and Singapore’s success stories, underscoring the fact that to attract foreign-flagged vessels, the country needs to align its regulations and standards with international practices and rules of yacht registration and classification. 

“Yacht registration procedures should be similar to those currently applied to cars,” said Lưu Văn Đức, chief executive officer of Lưu Gia Shipbuilding Company Limited. 

By the end of 2024 the Ministry of Transport is to revise all the regulations, while by 2030 it is expected to implement the following reforms and initiatives: 

• To introduce a definition of yachts into the Vietnamese Maritime Code and Inland Waterway Traffic Law
• To develop a decree regulating yacht operations in maritime and inland waterways
• To review and plan the infrastructure necessary for yachting
• To identify maritime zones for yachts under Vietnamese and foreign flags
• To create mechanisms to encourage investment in the yacht industry
• To add regulations on yacht port management and related service fees
• To simplify administrative procedures related to yacht entry and departure at seaports

“The country has about 200 yachts in total, both old and new, including those that meet international standards. This number is too small compared to the region, the world and the potential of the industry,” says Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, deputy chief executive officer of Ana Marina Nha Trang, which is the first international marina project in Vietnam. 

First yachts from Europe were imported into Vietnam in 2007. However, high taxes for private ownership (30% luxury goods levy, up to 10% import tax depending on the place of origin, and a VAT of another 10%) coupled with very strict qualification requirements for captains and a lack of berths, made the industry’s growth quite slow. 

The country’s first official yacht distributor, Vietyacht, started operating in 2017, and became the exclusive representative of two of French Beneteau Group’s brands: Jeanneau Yachts and Prestige. In 2018 Vietyacht added Fountaine Pajot. And in 2019 it launched a new company named Luxyacht, dedicated to three Ferretti Group brands: Ferretti Yachts, Pershing and Riva.

Today, there are about ten companies representing over 40 brands in the country, capable of offering the visitors a wide choice of adventures, historical sights and luxurious spa-villas – quite a good confirmation of the growing interest in the industry, despite its currently modest scale.