Mr. Dinh Hong Ky gave an interview to VnExpress, published on May 27, 2026.
The Special Urban Law should include a mechanism to “avoid criminalizing failed pilot models” in order to protect businesses and officials who dare to innovate, according to the Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association.
At a workshop held on the morning of May 27 in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss the draft Special Urban Law, Mr. Dinh Hong Ky, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association (HUBA), proposed that the law should clearly distinguish between violations committed for deliberate personal gain and risks arising during the testing of new policies or technologies.
According to him, when Ho Chi Minh City is permitted to pilot new policies, if businesses and implementing agencies comply with sandbox procedures (controlled testing mechanisms), publicly disclose data, maintain transparency of objectives, and accept supervision, then unsuccessful experiments that fail to meet expectations should not be subject to criminal prosecution. This is intended to create room for officials and businesses to experiment and innovate without fear of legal consequences.
“A true experimental mechanism must accept the possibility of failure. If every experiment is required to achieve perfect success, then it is no longer an experiment,” Mr. Ky said. He emphasized that the important issue is designing legal safeguards to protect those who dare to act and take responsibility for the common good, while strictly handling those who exploit experimental mechanisms for personal gain.
He also proposed establishing an “institutional sandbox” mechanism that would allow Ho Chi Minh City to pilot models beyond the current legal framework in Thu Thiem, Can Gio, or TOD (Transit-Oriented Development) areas, while also testing emerging sectors such as fintech, digital assets, autonomous vehicles, and paperless logistics.
Currently, mechanisms exempting criminal liability during experimentation have already been applied in the science and technology sector. However, such exemptions do not apply in cases where individuals knew or should have known about potential risks but failed to report them or did not fully implement measures to minimize damages.
Link to the article on Vnexpress: https://vnexpress.net/de-xuat-khong-hinh-su-hoa-mo-hinh-thu-nghiem-bi-that-bai-o-tp-hcm-5078780.html
