Director of the Department of Drug Administration (Ministry of Health) Vu Tuan Cuong said that 2025 will mark many positive results in state management of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, especially administrative procedure reform and digital transformation.
Accordingly, the total number of administrative procedures in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors has decreased from 124 to 75 procedures, equivalent to a nearly 40% reduction, contributing to reducing compliance costs, creating convenience for people and businesses.
In 2025, the Ministry of Health submitted to the Government to issue Decree No. 163/2025/ND-CP, and issued 8 Circulars guiding the implementation of the Pharmacy Law and 3 Circulars on decentralization and delegation of authority, creating an important legal basis for industry management.
Along with administrative procedure reform, digital transformation in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors continues to be promoted. Currently, the Ministry of Health is providing 47 online public services, including 37 full-process public services; 24 full-process public services have been integrated on the National One-stop Information Portal, improving publicity, transparency and efficiency in handling documents.
In terms of market development, Vietnam is currently among the countries with the highest pharmaceutical market growth rate in Asia, according to IQVIA's forecast (March 2025). Domestic drug production maintains a growth rate of 1215%/year, meeting 70% in quantity and nearly 50% in drug use value.
Domestic production capacity has covered 13/13 groups of essential drugs and 11/12 vaccines in the Expanded Immunization Program. Currently, 67 pharmaceutical enterprises participate in exporting drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients with a total value of about 312 million USD.
The supply of drugs continues to be guaranteed. In 2025, the Ministry of Health received and processed more than 40,000 dossiers related to import, export and registration for drug circulation. Notably, 94% of newly registered drug circulation records were resolved on time, with an average processing time reduced to 114.5 days.
Quality control has been strengthened, with the rate of substandard drugs at 0.60%, the rate of counterfeit drugs detected being only 0.024%. The authorities have handled 82 batches of violating drugs, of which 11 were recalled nationwide.
In 2026, the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry will continue to improve institutions, reform administrative procedures, strengthen decentralization associated with effective supervision; promote digital transformation, develop the pharmaceutical industry, proactively ensure supply, especially for rare drugs, drugs with limited supply, to better meet the health care needs of the people.
