How Vietnam Has Simplified Procedures to Register Business in Vietnam in 2023? | ANT Lawyers

By the end of 2019, there have been more than 30,000 FDI projects choosing Vietnam for investment, with a total registered capital of about 362 billion USD. Recently, business propensity of Vietnam is highly concentrated on the private sector, attracting foreign investors to the Vietnam market.

As Vietnam has built diplomatic relationship with nearly 190 countries around the world and signed about 15 Free Trade Agreements with important trading partners, Vietnam’s participation in various free trade agreements has created a strong impetus for foreign investors from developed countries to set their first steps in the Vietnam.

To be able to register a business in Vietnam, investors need to carry out procedures to apply for the Investment Registration Certificate. After being granted the Investment Registration Certificate, the investor shall then apply for Enterprise Registration Certificate.

To carry out the process of applying for the Enterprise Registration Certificate, firstly, the investors need to choose a name for the business, which must not be identical or confusing to the name of another business already registered in the National Database of Business Registration on a national scale, except for businesses that have been dissolved or have had effective court decisions declaring businesses bankrupt.

After that, the investors or the authorized person need to prepare a complete set of application dossiers in accordance with the law and submit it at the Business Registration Office where the head office is planned to be located. The Business Registration Office will check the validity of the application dossier, based on the appointment date on the Receipt, the investors or the authorized person can go to the Business Registration Office to receive the results of the application or Register to receive results by post. The time limit for considering and handling the dossier is 03 working days from the date of receiving the valid dossier.

The investor will be granted an Enterprise Registration Certificate when fully meeting the following conditions:

-The registered business lines are not in the prohibited business sectors;

-The business’s name is set in accordance with the provisions of law;

-Having a head office as prescribed by law;

-Having a valid business registration dossier as prescribed by law;

-Fully paying the enterprise registration fee as prescribed by law

Over the years, investors have built confidence in the Vietnam’s business and investment environment. The socio-political and macroeconomic stability are prominent features for the growth of Vietnam’s business potential. The Vietnam government has determined to simplify the process for investment application. Hence, Vietnam is and will continue to be an attractive investment location, a promising destination for foreign investors for applying for investment registration certificate and register a business in Vietnam compared with other neighboring countries in the region.

ANT Lawyers – a law firm in Vietnam will always follow up with authorities for legal update on matters relevant to investment registration or business setting-up in Vietnam.

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What Attention for Filing PCT Patent Application in Vietnam in 2023? | ANT Lawyers

  There are individuals and companies that believe that by filing a trademark, patent or industrial design application in the host country, they will automatically receive worldwide protection. However, in fact, intellectual property rights are territorial related and Intellectual Property (IP) government offices only grant protection titles according to the laws of the relevant countries (or region). Therefore, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) was born and signed by the member countries on June 19, 1970 in Washington, the PCT entered into force on June 1, 1978. Vietnam joined the PCT on March 10, 1993.

According to the definition of Vietnam law, an invention is a technical solution in the form of a product or process that aims to solve a defined problem by applying natural laws. In order to be able to obtain patent protection in different countries, an applicant can apply for protection through the PCT, either directly or within 12 months from the date of filing the first patent application filed in a country party to the Paris Convention, designating all countries wishing to register on the same application form, in the same language, and pay a fee.

The applicant needs to prepare a set of application including the following documents:

-02 Patent registration declarations according to Form 01-SC, specified in Appendix A of Circular 16/2016/TT-BKHCN.

-01 Vietnamese translation of the description and summary in the international application (published copy or original submitted, if the application has not been published, and the revised version and explanation of the amendment, if the international application is amended under Article 19 and/or Article 34.2(b) of the Treaty).

-01 Vietnamese translation of the appendices to the international preliminary assessment report (when substantive examination is requested).

-01 original copy of payment receipt (in case of payment of fees and charges via postal service or directly into the account of the National Office of Intellectual Property).

-01 Power of Attorney (in case the application is submitted through a representative).

After fully preparing the application, the applicant submits the application at the National Office of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The time limit for formal examination is 1 month from the date of application submission. Applications will be published in the 19th month from the priority date or the filing date, if the application does not have a priority date, or within 2 months from the date of acceptance of the valid application, whichever is later. The time limit for substantive examination is not more than 18 months from the date of application publication if the request for substantive examination is filed before the date of application publication or from the date of receipt of the request for substantive examination if such request is filed after date of publication of application.

One of the important steps in filing PCT patent application in Vietnam is to make sure the translation into Vietnamese language match up with the original language. Patent attorneys at ANT Lawyers will assist along the process including the translation of the patent and work with the national office of intellectual property in Vietnam to follow the instructions to complete the registration process in Vietnam.

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What Has Changed in Vietnam Investment Law 2014? | ANT Lawyers

 The new Investment Law 2014 announced by Vietnam Government on December 26th, 2014 has come into effect on July 1st, 2015. The new law introduces changes which include more opening policies for foreign investors to establish and set-up businesses in Vietnam.

What makes foreign investors hesitate to invest and set-up business in Vietnam? The administrative problems and lack of transparency; the inconsistencies in implementing the principle of freedom to do business.

Theoretically, the new Investment Law 2014 will resolve the above mentioned issues by offering a faster amendment mechanism on registering changes or issuing the new Business Registration Certificate or Investment Certificate. Generally, the process and procedures are expected to become more straightforward and convenient for foreign owned companies compared with 2005 Investment Law and the 2005 Enterprise Law by reducing the volume of paper and the administrative works.

In conclusion, the 2014 Investment Law will help clear up some of the confusions that accompanied the 2005 Investment Law and the 2005 Enterprise Law and their application, as well as ease and simplify the foreign investment process which, it is hoped, will promote business activities and investment into Vietnam. The investment of foreign investor into a Vietnamese company in certain situations would be treated in the same manner as a domestic investor that provides an opportunity to offer clients creative structuring solutions to facilitate investment in Vietnam.

We help clients overcome cultural barriers and achieve their strategic and financial outcomes, while ensuring the best interest rate protection, risk mitigation and regulatory compliance. ANT lawyers have law firm in Hanoi, law firm in Ho Chi Minh City and law firm in Da Nang.

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Simplifying the Procedure for Foreigner to Reside in Vietnam | ANT Lawyers

  For foreigners wishing to come to Vietnam to work and reside temporarily, they need to either set-up a company in Vietnam or work for others. The owner of the company does not need a work permit but still need to apply for temporary residence card.

However, the foreign employee will need the employer to sponsor the work permit in Vietnam before applying for temporary residence card. A recent draft law on entry, exit and residence of foreigner in Vietnam has been proposed with some changes. The draft regulates many open provisions on entry-exit procedure, temporary and permanent residence conditions for foreigner to reside in Vietnam. ANT Lawyers always follows the new updates about administrative procedures in Vietnam to provide our client with the best service.

The new draft law details conditions for granting the temporary residence card for foreigners working in Vietnam, rising term of this card from 3 year to 5 year. The foreigners’ category expands to scientists and specialists residing in Vietnam for the purpose of attracting international talents, the foreigners who don’t have any type of document proving nationality, and have resided in Vietnam before the year 2000. The foreigners holding temporary residence card must change card per periodically 10 years at the issuing offices. The draft law does not allow the foreigners to change the entry purpose, but allows them to supplement the purpose of belonging persons in some specific cases such as in term of diplomatic representative offices, consulate, international representative office of United Nations and students at universities, colleges, schools.

For more information or requirement of legal services to obtain temporary residence card in Vietnam, we could assist.

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Some Notable Changes in Vietnam Enterprise Law from Jul 2015 | ANT Lawyers

There have been a number of significant changes to the Vietnam law on enterprise to improve the business efficiency. Under this law, limited liability companies and joint stock companies may have one or more than one atlaw representative, of which at least one at-law representative resides in Vietnam. An enterprise shall ensure that at least one at-law representative resides in Vietnam. In case an enterprise has only one atlaw representative, such person must reside in Vietnam and shall, upon leaving Vietnam, authorize in writing another person to exercise the rights and perform the obligations of the at-law representative.

From July 01, 2015, enterprises may decide on the appearance, quantity and content of seal and before using a seal, an enterprise shall notify the seal specimen to the business registration agency for publicly posting on the national enterprise registration portal. These are significant contents as prescribed under the Law No. 68/2014/QH13 on Enterprises approved by the National Assembly on November 16, 2014. Another significant point is regulation on omission of business sectors in enterprise registration certificate. From July 01, 2015, enterprise name and identification number, head office address of the enterprise; charter capital and information of the at-law representative of the enterprise, information of the general partners for partnerships; of the enterprise owner for private enterprises… The at-law representative of an enterprise shall register the changes in the contents of the enterprise registration certificate within 10 working days after making the changes. After being granted an enterprise registration certificate, an enterprise shall publicly announce the enterprise registration on the National Enterprise Registration Portal within 30 days. This Law takes effect on July 1, 2015 and replaces the Law No. 60/2005/QH11 on Enterprises and June 20, 2013 Law No. 37/2013/QH13 amending and Supplementing Article 170 of the Law on Enterprises.

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UK Company Interested in Vietnam Aviation Market | ANT Consulting

 NATS (National Air Traffic Solutions), a UK-based aviation solutions provider, has showed its ambition to set up company in Vietnam and enter the Vietnam aviation market. In addition, NATS is interested in Long Thanh Airport.

NATS is headquartered in the UK but the company is also present in Asia and is currently implementing a globalization strategy. NATS is planning to expand its market in addition to offices currently based in Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok. In which, Vietnam is an important market for NATS because Vietnam aviation market is growing at a very fast speed. The number of passengers is expected to double by 2020.

Vietnamese airlines are bringing in a lot of new aircrafts. Therefore, Vietnam aviation industry is facing many challenges in terms of infrastructure and air traffic control… Therefore, NATS with experiences working and managing airports with one, two, three runways as well as the busiest airports in the world are ready to assist the Vietnam aviation authorities to operate more effectively.

Long Thanh Airport is a concern of NATS because it will be a large airport. NATS always wants to be able to deliver efficient, optimal management solutions to airports with high capacity. Currently, NATS is supporting the management of 2.4 million flights and 250 million passengers a year in the UK. Moreover, they are also involved in managing and providing solutions to many major airports in Europe. NATS has been presented in Asia for 40 – 50 years and has cooperated with gateway airports in Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore…

NATS has met and worked with Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM), a member of CANSO (Civil Air Navigation Services Organization) to discuss the potential and opportunities for cooperation in the coming time.

In the short term, NATS will cooperate with VATM to open training courses, for example air traffic controllers. At the same time, NATS will learn more about the Vietnam market. If you have the opportunity and opportunity, NATS will set up a representative office in Vietnam.

Finding the right business partner in Vietnam is also important. We recommend doing research on the reputation of the company and individual shareholders, corporate or individual, gathering publicly available company information, and performing background checks on key personnel to find potential risks in cooperation. Working with a reliable partner can help achieve economic benefits, saving time and money in business.

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Vietnam and Japan cooperate for mutual development | ANT Consulting

On November 25th, 2021, within the framework of Japan visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister – Mr. Pham Minh Chinh, the Prime Minister met the President of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). During the meeting, the Prime Minister met leaders of many large Japanese corporations, businesses and banks and signed many investment cooperation agreements between Vietnam and Japan.

The parties highly appreciated JETRO’s practical and effective contributions to Vietnam in recent years in promoting investment cooperation. In the 10 months of 2021, Japan ranked 3rd among countries making investments in Vietnam, with a total registered investment capital of nearly USD 3.4 billion. Up to now, Japan is the second largest investor in Vietnam with over USD 63.9 billion (accounting for 15.8% of total FDI investment).

Vietnam encourages Japanese businesses to invest and set up company in Vietnam, apply investment registration certificates in Vietnam, expand investment cooperation in infrastructure, energy, manufacturing industry, high-quality agriculture, information technology, smart cities, financial and banking services, and banking, innovation. The Government is committed to accompanying the business community, supporting and creating all favorable conditions for business investment activities on establishment of company in Vietnam, bringing about more benefits for the parties, contributing to bringing Vietnam-Japan relations to a new level.

During this visit, the two countries signed more than 40 cooperation agreements with a total investment value of more than USD 3 billion. In addition to investment commitments, during this visit, there were many cooperation agreements on human resource training or other environmental protection solutions signed between ministries, sectors and businesses.

In the meeting, the Prime Minister of Vietnam also met and discussed with leaders of Nippon Foundation, MUFG Group, INFRONEER Group, JBIC Bank, Idemitsu Group and Mizuho Bank on market development, business, human resource training.

The Prime Minister shared with the difficulties of Japanese businesses in Vietnam over the past time, he said that Vietnam has changed to a safe and flexible adaptation, effectively controlling the epidemic. The competent authorities at all levels must discuss with businesses and citizen to deploy solutions appropriate to the situation, bring life back to normal, both open production and business, and effectively prevent epidemics. Vietnam also suggested that Japanese businesses corporate with Vietnamese in epidemic prevention and control, continue to contribute to improving institutions, training human resources, investing in hard and soft infrastructure, and cooperating in areas such as: climate change response, digital economy, green economy, circular economy…

In addition, to ensure investment and trade, Vietnam is expected to start reopening international flights in early December, including flights to Japan. This will make it easier for Japanese investors to make investment, market surveys, and deploy their investment projects.

By the visit, Vietnam wishes to further develop cooperation in investment, human resources and diplomacy with Japan, thereby creating favorable conditions for investors of the two countries to expand their business, form company in Vietnam and contribute to national economic development.

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Many “American eagles” expressed their desire to invest and expand into Vietnam | ANT Consulting

 After the Covid-19 pandemic with unremitting efforts, Vietnam has affirmed its capacity in all aspects with other countries, especially the capability to fight against Covid and quick return focus to business. Therefore, Vietnam is becoming an attractive investment destination for global investors including American companies. With the stable political situation, young and abundant human resources and commitment to investment facilitation from the Vietnam Government, it has become a great motivation for American investors to choose Vietnam as a safe and effective investment destination to set up company and expand business in Vietnam.

On the occasion of Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s business trip to attend the Special Summit to celebrate the 45th anniversary of ASEAN- America relations, many big American enterprises such as Intel, Apple and Google have shared their desire to expand the supply chain, cooperate in technology and move production to Vietnam by coordinating with Vietnamese enterprises that have suitable capability to participate. This is also considered a great opportunity for Vietnam to interact with the world’s leading advanced economy to improve its labor capacity and is a potential market for workers to learn and demonstrate their abilities.

Specifically, Apple wants the Vietnamese Government to continue to have preferential policies to encourage high-tech American enterprises to develop business and invest in Vietnam. On the other hand, Apple also affirmed that it will actively consider the Prime Minister’s proposal on increasing the number of domestic suppliers and raising the rate of using domestic services and goods higher in Apple products in the near future.

In addition, Intel also showed its interest in the Vietnamese market by emphasizing the very important role of Vietnam and Vietnamese factories in Intel’s production chain. Moreover, Intel also highly appreciates Vietnam’s infrastructure and human resources as potential conditions for technology enterprises to continue to expand their operations. Especially in today’s volatile world, Intel’s expansion of investment in Vietnam is a strategic solution.

Currently, Microsoft is working with Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications to deploy digital skills programs both private and public sector, and data science development in Vietnam. Accordingly, technology will help enhance transparency and trust, prevent and fight corruption. Vietnam has a young population, a dynamic country, ready to receive new technologies Microsoft wishes to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in the fields of digital transformation, ensuring network security, helping Vietnam achieve the goal of reducing emissions to zero by 2050 and contribute to helping Vietnam build a green economy, digital economy, and sustainable development.

In addition, in order to attract foreign investment, the Prime Minister emphasized that the “sincerity, trust and responsibility” stance, “harmonious benefits, shared risks” between big American and Vietnamese enterprises will help the relationship between the parties is stable and good. In addition, to implement the commitments it has joined, Vietnam is continuing to build and perfect institutions suitable to Vietnam’s conditions and circumstances. Moreover, the development of strategic infrastructure such as digital transformation infrastructure, transport infrastructure, energy infrastructure, healthcare infrastructure… will also be the focus of completion to attract foreign investors to establish business in Vietnam.

Besides, Vietnam continues to improve the open and stable business environment, and effectively handle administrative procedures. In particular, digital transformation will help reduce direct transactions, fight negativity, trouble, corruption, save time and costs for people and businesses. Therefore, Vietnamese businesses need to innovate in both capacity and organization to capture this opportunity well.

Finding the right business partner in Vietnam is also important. We recommend doing research on the reputation of the company and individual shareholders, corporate or individual, gathering publicly available company information, and performing background checks on key personnel to find potential risks in cooperation. Working with a reliable partner can help achieve economic benefits, saving time and money in business.

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Vietnam attracts FDI in 10 months of 2021 | ANT Consulting

 In 2021, due to the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic in the world, the economic situation has been seriously affected. This greatly affects the investment performance of investors making investment in Vietnam. However, Vietnam government still implements many policies to attract forein investors to set up company, make investment, in order to realize the “dual goal” of fighting the epidemic and developing socio-economic and achieving economic growth to get the high results.

According to statistics of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, as of October 20th, 2021, the total newly registered capital, adjusted and contributed capital to buy shares, and buy capital contributions from foreign investors reached USD 23.74 billion, which is accounted for 1.1% more than the same period in 2020. Realized capital of foreign investment projects is estimated at USD 15.15 billion, accounted for 4.1% over the same period in 2020.

Accumulated to October 20th, 2021, the Vietnam has attracted 34,266 projects with a total registered capital of over USD 404 billion. The accumulated realized capital of foreign investment projects is estimated at over USD 247 billion, equal to 61.1% of the total valid registered investment capital.

Foreign investors have invested in 18 industries out of a total of 21 national economic sectors. In which, the processing and manufacturing industry leads the way with total investment capital of USD 12.74 billion, accounting for 53.7% of total registered investment capital. Next is the electricity production and distribution industry ranked second with a total investment of USD 5.54 billion, accounting for 23.3% of the total registered investment capital. Followed by real estate, wholesale and retail businesses with a total registered capital of USD 2.12 billion and over USD 803 million respectively.

In terms of the number of new projects, the processing and manufacturing industry, the wholesale and retail trade, and professional and scientific and technological activities are the industries that attract the most projects, accounting for 33.1% and 27.8% respectively, and 16% of total projects.

There are 97 countries and territories have the investors invested in Vietnam in the 10 months of 2021. In which, Singapore leads with a total investment of USD 6.77 billion, accounting for 28.5% of total investment capital in Vietnam. Korea ranks second with USD 4.15 billion, accounting for 17.5% of total investment capital. Japan comes third with a total registered investment capital of nearly USD 3.4 billion, accounting for 14.3% of total investment capital. Investment amount is followed by China, Hong Kong, Taiwan,…

Foreign investors have invested in 58 provinces and cities in Vietnam in 10 months of 2021. Long An province leads the way with a total registered investment capital of USD 3.68 billion, accounting for 15.5% of total registered investment capital, including a large power project of up to USD 3.1 billion (accounting for 84.2% of total registered investment capital of Long An province). Ho Chi Minh City comes to second place with over USD 2.73 billion, accounting for 11.5% of total investment capital. Hai Phong city ranks third with a total registered capital of USD 2.72 billion, accounting for nearly 11.5% of total investment capital. Next are Binh Duong, Can Tho, Quang Ninh,…

In terms of the number of projects, foreign investors still focus a lot on investing in big cities with convenient infrastructure such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Bac Ninh. In which, Ho Chi Minh City leads in number of new projects (34.1%), number of adjusted projects (17.7%) and capital contribution and purchase of contributed capital (59.4%).

In addition, Vietnam has implemented the selective investment attraction policies (reducing quantity, increasing quality) to eliminate small-scale projects with little added value. This also partly affects the number of projects of small investors planning to invest in Vietnam.

To ensure safety in the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic, Vietnam has applied a policy of restricting entry and implementing long-term isolation, which affects the progress of surveys and implement the procedures of experts and project development groups.

Due to the impact of the epidemic, Vietnam has implemented a factory blockade and restricted the movement of workers in industrial zones, slowing production, reducing capacity and output, and disrupting the supply chain. This affects the psychology of new investors who are planning to invest in Vietnam.

In 2021, many factors affect the investment performance of international investors to Vietnam. However, with many policies to support and attract investment, Vietnam still becomes an investment destination for many big investors in the world. In late 2021 and early 2022, with many policies to attract FDI to revive the economy after the epidemic, Vietnam hopes that international investors can seize the opportunity to make investment, establish company, in order to bring the best economic benefits for their business.

Finding the right business partner in Vietnam is also important. We recommend doing research on the reputation of the company and individual shareholders, corporate or individual, gathering publicly available company information, and performing background checks on key personnel to find potential risks in cooperation. Working with a reliable partner can help achieve economic benefits, saving time and money in business.

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Risk of disputes from transactions through social networks in Vietnam | ANT Consulting

 Social networks have become popular and become an indispensable part of modern life. Along with the development of the internet, social networking applications are also used by many people as a transaction method to exchange and conclude contracts or business transaction with each other. When a dispute occurs, it is difficult for the parties to prove the transactions and the parties involved. Hence, it is important to conduct background check on the business counterparts from financial, operational aspects instead of blind belief in the exaggerated advertising or discounted offer from them.

In fact, many individuals and organizations have reported that their partners have denied purchase and sale transactions through social networks and caused huge damages. However, the evidence provided is only messages, icons … stored in social networking applications that carry many meanings and are easily confused in interpretation. These are quite common electronic transaction disputes today, but there is no strict legal corridor to protect parties with legitimate interests.

The legal system has not kept up with the strong development of the internet business. As a result, it raises a number of complicated issues, beyond the control of legal regulators and creates many difficulties and challenges when business disputes occur over social networks.

Specifically, many individuals engage in commercial activities but does not have a fixed location and do not register business with any authorities. They might advertise over the internet with buying and selling goods and services without having to be responsible for any consequences for fake products or inadequate delivery of quantity or maybe even scam.

It can be seen that the lack of business registration makes it difficult to determine the truthfulness of the transaction and the competent authorities do not know the information of individuals and organizations transacting on social networks authentication of transaction status on social networks when participating in business.

According to the law, electronic data messages are expressed in the form of electronic data exchange, email and other similar forms according to the provisions of the law on electronic transactions. Electronic is also a source of evidence used as a basis to determine the validity of a transaction. Therefore, it can be seen that in fact transactions via social networks are also a form of electronic transactions with legal value. However, these transactions present a lot of potential risks because it is difficult to prove to the authorities when dispute arise.

Because these accounts can be easily disabled, communications can be deleted or hidden, and the name of the account holder is easy to change. Moreover, when transacting and exchanging via social networks, the parties cannot control whether the person being exchanged is an authorized person or not. The violating party will rely on the above reasons to deny all the content discussed with the partner.

Transactions through social network platform are thriving and are expected to bring value. However, in order to contribute to promoting the sustainable and safe development of this type of business, more legal regulations governing related issues are needed. In addition, in order to limit disputes and risks in these transactions, individuals and businesses need to carefully check the partner information, from authenticity, adverse media, reputation online or engage third party consulting company to verify business registration, search business shareholders information, visit office or operation site for audit, undertake background check, criminal record for protection of interest if the dispute occurs.

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Joining CPTPP – Opportunity for Vietnam to Attract Quality Investors | ANT Consulting

 The UK discussed for the first time with all CPTPP members, including Vietnam, to discuss joining this agreement.

Pursuing the goal of joining the CPTPP is one of the UK government’s priorities and is an important part of the free trade strategy.

Becoming a CPTPP member not only opens new opportunities for UK businesses, but also promotes investment and trade as well as develops sustainable economic cooperation between the UK and CPTPP members.

British companies have invested nearly 98 billion pounds (125.27 billion USD) in CPTPP members in 2018. By 2019, the value of trade transactions between the UK and CPTPP member countries is more than 110 billion pounds.

CPTPP will help complement bilateral trade agreements that the UK has entered or is negotiating with CPTPP members.

Currently, the UK and Vietnam are also working hard to translate the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) into the UK-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement later this year. This will ensure continuity and bring commercial benefits to both British and Vietnamese businesses; at the same time, British businesses coming to Vietnam to set up company will also want to take advantage of attractive trade conditions.

The UK is the 15th largest investor in Vietnam in terms of investment accumulation and the 13th largest investment country in 2019. British investors who are present in Vietnam include HSBC financial services firms, Standard Chartered Bank, Prudential; Jardines in real estate; AstraZeneca and GSK in the pharmaceutical sector…

In 2019, bilateral trade in goods and services between Vietnam and the UK reached about 5.8 billion pounds (7.41 billion USD). The total trade turnover between the two countries grew at an average rate of 13% per year in the 2009-2019 period.

According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report, Vietnam’s global competitiveness 4.0 has significantly improved. Vietnam has also announced a national vision for the development of a digital economy with the goal that by 2030, a digital economy will reach 25% of GDP.

These are areas where the UK can help Vietnam such as smart city development, digitalization in construction and healthcare, fintech application to support inclusive business and financial growth.

The CPTPP will reduce tariffs between member countries by 95% and establish modern rules in areas that are increasingly important to UK businesses, including digital commerce, data, finance, and professional and business services. It is expected that areas like fintech, medtech and AI will grow rapidly.

Vietnam is the leading anti-Covid-19 country in the region. This is not only a testament to a strong public health, but also demonstrates Vietnam’s resilience. The International Monetary Fund (IFM) forecasts that Vietnam’s economic growth in 2020 will reach 2.7%. Vietnam has become the fastest growing economy in the region, outside Singapore; increasingly open to global trade…

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RCEP Helps Vietnam Accelerate Investment Attraction | ANT Consulting

 Together with ASEAN countries, Vietnam absolutely have the opportunity to become a hub to attract foreign investment in Vietnam, especially from countries participating in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Finally, the RCEP was signed after 8 years of negotiations. Although it still has to wait a while for the 15 member countries, including 10 ASEAN member countries and 5 partners (including China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand) to approve, the assessment of the impact of the RCEP on the Vietnamese economy has been repeatedly confirmed.

The rules of origin procedures in RCEP bring significant advantages to Vietnam, whose economy is heavily dependent on imported materials. Vietnam is having a large trade deficit from Korea, China on raw materials for export production and it is always difficult for the origin of goods when exporting to many major markets around the world.

With RCEP, it is reported that Vietnamese enterprises can more easily access raw materials from member countries to produce export goods. For example, it is possible to import electronic chips from Japan and Korea; imported raw materials for textile and leather from China, then produced domestically and exported to other countries, at the same time satisfying the rules of origin within the bloc to take advantage of tariff preferences.

Not only with Vietnam, experts also agreed that RCEP is a favorable opportunity for all countries to participate in restructuring, repositioning supply chains and participating in global value chains. With RCEP, ASEAN is hoping to become the center of the global production chain. If we can do that, the chances for Vietnam are not small.

Vietnam has the opportunity to reshape and better exploit new positions, thereby building up a position in the global supply chain map. Of course, there will be an opportunity to attract investment. RCEP can help Vietnamese companies expand their markets, join regional supply chains and attract foreign investment.

Among the remaining 14 RCEP member countries, most are major investment partners of Vietnam. Even in the list of 10 countries and territories with large investment in Vietnam, there are 6 partners from RCEP. In which, the largest is Korea (70.38 billion USD), followed by Japan (59.89 billion USD), Singapore (55.7 billion USD), China (18 billion USD), Malaysia (12.8 billion USD), Thailand (12.5 billion USD).

Even without RCEP, foreign investment capital from these countries is still pouring into Vietnam, especially when Vietnam is the focus of attention of international investors, when investment flows are changing during Covid-19 period.

Currently, China, Japan, Korea and even Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia are speeding up investment abroad to expand production and supply chains. Vietnam is a safe and attractive destination. The opportunity to speed up investment attraction from RCEP member countries will be greater for Vietnam, especially when Vietnam is building many outstanding mechanisms and policies to catch the shifting investment inflows.

But with RCEP, the story is not just the investments between RCEP members. The prosperity, large market size of the RCEP bloc will also make it become the focus of global investors.

When proposing to negotiate RCEP, ASEAN countries also want to create a favorable environment to connect economies, creating opportunities for enhancing production capacity towards the goal of building ASEAN into a dynamic and unique economic region in terms of production and market.

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Trade cooperation between Vietnam and Germany and potential future | ANT Consulting

  After 45 years of establishing diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Germany (from 1975 to 2020), Germany and Vietnam have had cooperation programs in many fields such as culture, economics, education, and health. Especially, after the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) came into effect, the commercial cooperation relationship between the two countries has developed.

EVFTA is an opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to expand their markets to European countries, including Germany. On the contrary, this is also an opportunity for German businesses to invest in Vietnam to set up company thanks to policies to attract and preferential investment commitments.

Germany is the world’s leading technologically developed country and an integral part of the global supply chain. Germany also has many strict requirements on the quality of goods and the environmental friendliness of products, which requires Vietnam to improve production quality and use environmentally friendly products/materials. With the signing of the EVFTA, Vietnam and Germany will have more favorable conditions for technology exchange and investment, which will help trade cooperation between the two countries more developed.

Before 2014, Vietnamese goods exported to Germany were the least polluted category, including agricultural products, wood products, processed foods, beverages, garments, footwear and glassware. Since 2014, the export of machinery and equipment to Germany began to increase and became the item with the highest export turnover. After EVFTA, Vietnam will increase exports of footwear, textiles and agricultural products such as coffee, tea, pepper and rubber and will import many products related to processing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals.

In addition, in order to improve product quality to meet import criteria into Germany and Europe, Vietnam also attracts foreign investment to develop sustainably economic sectors such as pharmaceuticals and chemicals, in order to create quality products that are qualified for domestic use and import to many countries around the world.

Currently, the number of investment projects of German investors implementing in Vietnam is not high compared to other countries such as Japan, Korea, Singapore, etc. This requires Vietnam to re-examine its strengths and weaknesses in order to meet the investment needs of German investors. The implementation of EVFTA, Investment Law 2020, Enterprise Law 2020 is an opportunity for international investors, including German investors to easily access Vietnam market when expanding their investment.

With many cooperation efforts between Vietnam and Germany in recent years, Vietnam hopes that in the coming years, Vietnam will be the leading destination in investment for German investors and help improve furthermore good relationship between the two countries in the future.

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Processing and Manufacturing Industry Attracts Foreign Capital | ANT Consulting

  Although the amount of registered and disbursed FDI capital was lower than the same period in 2019 due to the influence of Covid-19, the reduction has been significantly improved.

The latest report of the Foreign Investment Department (Ministry of Planning and Investment) shows that, as of November 20th 2020, the total newly registered capital, adjusted and contributed capital to buy shares of foreign investors reached 26.43 billion USD, equaling 83.1% compared to the same period in 2019. The realized capital of foreign direct investment projects was estimated at 17.2 billion USD, equaling 97.6% compared to the same period in 2019.

Also according to the report, the processing and manufacturing industry is still the field attracting foreign capital, when there are 12.7 billion USD invested in this field, accounting for 48.2% of total registered investment capital. The field of electricity production and distribution ranked second with total investment capital of over 4.9 billion USD, accounting for 18.7% of total registered investment capital. Followed by the real estate business, wholesale and retail with a total registered capital of nearly 3.8 billion USD and 1.5 billion USD.

In terms of investment partners, Singapore is leading with a total investment of nearly 8.1 billion USD, accounting for 30.6% of total investment in Vietnam; Korea ranked second with a total investment of 3.7 billion USD, accounting for 14% of total investment capital. China ranked third, with a total registered investment capital of 2.4 billion USD, accounting for 9.1% of total investment capital. Followed by Japan, Taiwan, Thailand…

In terms of the number of new projects, Korea ranked first (573 projects); China ranked second (311 projects); Japan ranked third (251 projects); Hong Kong ranked fourth (164 projects)…

Commenting on the foreign investment situation, the Foreign Investment Department assessed that, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, production and business activities were affected, the implemented investment capital of foreign investment projects in 11 months, although decreasing compared to the same period in 2019, but the decrease rate has improved. Many FDI enterprises are gradually recovering, maintaining good production and business activities, creating momentum for faster growth in the last months of 2020.

Considering the strong decline in global investment due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, this result is better than many other countries, demonstrating Vietnam’s attractiveness in the eyes of international investors.

The Foreign Investment Department forecasts that there are still many foreign investors who are interested, confident and want to invest in Vietnam. But due to the influence of Covid-19, the movement of investors, as well as new investment decisions and the expansion of the scale of foreign investment projects, continue to be affected.

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Vision to develop logistics services in Da Nang | ANT Consulting

 Da Nang, with its favorable geographical location, lies on the arterial North-South traffic axis in terms of road, rail, sea and air, is an important traffic gateway of the Central – Central Highlands and is the end point on the East-West Economic Corridor running through Vietnam – Laos – Myanmar – Thailand, converging types of transport from air, seaport, railway, expressway, especially with deep water ports. Therefore, Da Nang has a great potential to develop into a maritime transport center, an important logistics hub to countries in the region.

In the economic development orientation and in the Politburo’s Resolution No. 43-NQ/TW dated January 24, 2019 on Da Nang construction and development to 2030, a vision to 2045 defines: Danang will focus on exploiting advantages to soon become a marine economic center, forming logistics service supply chains for the Central and Central Highlands.

To comply with the Resolution, currently, in parallel with the expansion of the port, Da Nang is also actively calling for investment in logistics centers. Of which, 20 hectares in Hoa Vang district, 2 hectares in the north of Da Nang airport, 9.1 hectares in the High-Tech Park. At the same time, promote the early operation of highways Da Nang – Quang Ngai, La Son – Tuy Loan… to awaken potentials, promote trade links, connect industrial zones, economic zones in the region, thereby becoming the driving force to promote the city’s logistics services industry.

In addition, Da Nang will build a new Lien Chieu port as a transport port, Tien Sa port will be a tourist port in order to promote the central role of the international seaport city and urban seaport. According to the Department of Planning and Investment of the city, the Lien Chieu port project is currently completing the environmental impact assessment report, submitting for appraisal and approval of the subdivision planning project 1/2,000. City leaders suggested early appraisal of capital sources and capital balancing capabilities, and proposed to allocate central budget capital to support projects. In the next phases, Lien Chieu port will attract investors in logistics items. This is an important premise for Da Nang to promote the role of a key maritime route in the Central region and a logistics center in the region.

With the above orientation, it is expected that in the coming time, the market of transport services and logistics in the city will develop more vibrantly, raising the quality of services not only in the city but in the region. It is hoped that more companies will invest, set up company and apply for investment certificate in Da Nang in the area of logistics and logistics support.

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Market entry into Vietnam market through merger and acquisition | ANT Consulting

 Over the past 10 years, Vietnam has always been one of the leading M&A destinations in Southeast Asia. Many international investors have chosen Vietnam as their place of business destination to set up company and apply for investment registration certificate under direct investment or acquiring shares or capital contributions through M&A.

M&A activities enable international businesses to take advantage of the existing business platforms of Vietnamese businesses to continue making investments. This helps international investors to timely grasp the changing trend of technology, legal policies, and facilities to do business, instead of rebuilding from scratch, it will take more time and effort.

Recently, the M&A market in Vietnam has been active and attractive to many investors around the world, especially in the retail and financial sectors. Many international investors have undertaken significant M&A deals in Vietnam over the years and achieved significant profits in their business.

There are many reasons for investors to choose Vietnam as a place to do business, but some of the main factors that make Vietnam attractive are political stability and its economic growth, despite the effects of the Covid-19 epidemic. In addition, with a population of 100 million people, this is considered a large consumption market, along with an abundant and high-quality labour source.

Currently, with the trend of moving production out of China, many investors have chosen Vietnam as the location of setting up company for manufacturing facilities. Rebuilding factories from scratch also makes investors time consuming and costly, therefore taking advantage of Vietnamese factories will help investors not to interrupt their production, and operate the business in a best way.

However, to be able to perform M&A activities in Vietnam, foreign businesses need to understand the Vietnamese market and partners before performing M&A. This will help investors understand the partners’ strengths and weaknesses, and outline a suitable business path after implementing M&A. In addition, to avoid unnecessary risks relating to the transaction and to the business itself, investors need to find a reputable and experienced professional consulting company that could help with market research, background check, management criminal record check, business certificate verification, corporate and individual reputation to build up confidence in doing M&A deal in Vietnam.

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UKVFTA - the cooperation between Vietnam and UK | ANT Consulting

 On December 29th, 2020, representatives of Vietnam and the United Kingdom signed the free trade agreement negotiation between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UKVFTA) in London, United Kingdom. It would open up opportunities for flow of goods and that investors from UK to make investment in Vietnam through setting up company, and manufacturing facilities.

After December 31st, 2020, the Vietnam – EU free trade agreement (EVFTA) will no longer apply to the UK due to Brexit, so the implementation of the signing of a free trade agreement between the two countries is essential to sustaining and developing economic cooperation. The UKVFTA is expected to help reduce import duties on goods from the UK to Vietnam and vice versa. In addition, the commitments in the Agreement will help develop trade and investment between the two countries in the coming time.

In recent years, the UK is a major trading partner of Vietnam in Europe, the import-export turnover between the two countries has increased significantly, especially products of seafood, garments, wood products, agricultural products etc. Besides opportunities to promote exports, improve business investment environment, expand commodity supply, the UKVFTA also poses certain challenges in meeting the quality of goods to qualify for pressure tax incentives in the Agreement.

In order to make the most of the economic effects from the UKVFTA, there are UK investors to invest and produce products that meet the quality and demand conditions for the UK market is essential for Vietnam. Besides, in addition, the advantages of British investors such as finance, pharmaceuticals, chemicals…will benefit Vietnam. Investing in Vietnam in this industries will enable investors to take advantage of highly skilled labor, perfect facilities as well as investment attraction policies in Vietnam to bring the best benefits for investors. On that basis, Vietnam also learn the operations, management and experience from British investors, thereby helping to develop the domestic market. In addition, Vietnam also needs to import raw materials for UK manufacturing industries such as textile materials and leather to ensure compliance with the rules of origin in order to make the best use of incentives from the Agreement.

With the negotiation of the Agreement, this is a new beginning for the economic relationship between the two countries Vietnam and the UK during a period of many difficulties due to epidemics and economic crisis. In addition, this is a step towards further developing the diplomatic, cultural and educational relationship between the two countries in the future.

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Da Nang invests in expanding the Biotechnology Center | ANT Consulting

 August 12, 2020, People’s Committee Office of Da Nang city said that the Chairman of Da Nang City People’s Committee issued Decision No. 2686/QD-UBND approving the project “Expanding and upgrading Danang Biotechnology Center for research and development South Central Region”.

Expanding and upgrading Danang Biotechnology Center into a biotechnology research and development (R&D) center to serve socio-economic development in the South Central region, on the basis of Strong enough material-technical and human resources and a specific operating mechanism ensure the capacity of the hub of all parties: science, technology, enterprises, farmers – forestry farmers – fishermen.

Thereby, the center is able to attract investment to contribute to the development of value chain segments to develop the advantages of the South Central Region (high-tech agriculture, marine biotechnology, medicinal herbs …), take an active part in the conservation and development of biological resources, environmental protection and sustainable development of the sub-region and the country. The investment content includes: building 3-storey biotechnology research and application laboratory; 3-storey probiotic laboratory block; 3-storey general applied research block; experimental pilot workshop cluster; animal test area; greenhouses, net houses; experimental garden; field – experimental forest and procurement of machinery and equipment.

The total capital of the project is 651.7 billion VND, from the central budget, the local budget capital and the socialization capital. The Department of Science and Technology of Da Nang city is an agency assigned to lead, organize and manage the implementation in the period 2020-2030.

Since the end of the 20th century, biotechnology has turned from a science to a high-tech economic and technical branch of many countries around the world. For our country, biotechnology plays an important role in contributing to food security, structural transformation and sustainable development of the industrial and rural economy; providing basic and essential products for public health care; protecting living environment, serving socio-economic development.

Da Nang’s investment in expanding the Biotechnology Center with the goal of implementing the role of a meeting point of science, technology, enterprises and farmers – forestry farmers – fishermen has confirmed the role of biotechnology in the present era as well as showing the development orientation of the economic structure of the city. This is a development opportunity for businesses operating in the biotechnology industry in Da Nang in particular and Vietnam in general, creating momentum for attracting foreign investors to set up company taking advantage of local resources.

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7 basic steps to set up a business and comply with Vietnam laws | ANT Lawyers

 Vietnam’s economy is increasingly diversified in terms of business activities and business regulations are also constantly being improved and enhanced. Accordingly, foreign investors can freely choose the right type of business. Therefore, the business establishment in Vietnam is always a matter of great interest to foreign investors whom find business opportunities in Vietnam.

With the promulgation of the enterprise law, the business setting up process has been adjusted with many favorable regulations for investors. However, in order for a business to be set up and be complied in operation, it must go through the following basic steps:

The first step is to set up a business in Vietnam. To take this step, the investor first needs to determine the type of business to choose to establish and provide the business name and expected information. Accordingly, the composition of the enterprise establishment dossier will be prepared according to regulations and submitted at the Business Registration Office, the Department of Planning and Investment of the place where it is expected to be headquartered. After submitting a valid application, the enterprise will be granted an enterprise registration certificate and announced the registration contents on the National Business Registration Portal.

The second step is to publish the contents of business registration. After being granted an enterprise registration certificate, an enterprise must make a public announcement on the National Business Registration Portal.

In the third step, the enterprise conducts stamp engraving. Enterprises can request to make a seal from the seal making agent. Accordingly, the enterprise actively decides on the type, quantity, form and content of the seal and is solely responsible for the use of its legal entity seal.

Fourth step is that to open a bank account in Vietnam. Currently, businesses can choose a bank to open an account for their business, to open an account, the bank requires an application form issued by the bank, a seal sample, the company’s charter, and a certificate. Business registration and related documents are required by different bank.

The fifth step is to register the tax declaration form in Vietnam. Accordingly, enterprises register for the use of e-invoices and notify the use of e-invoices to their tax authorities. Enterprises need to contact the invoice supplier to order the printing of value-added invoice books and must register self-printed invoices with tax authorities.

In the sixth step, the enterprise needs to conduct labor registration in Vietnam. Enterprises register with the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to declare the use of labor. Within 30 days from the date of commencement of operation, the employer must register the employer to the Labor Department (according to the prescribed form). In addition, enterprises should note that the relationship between the employer and the employee is regulated by the Labor Code and specified in the labor contract.

Seventh step is to register for social insurance in Vietnam. Enterprises register with the Social Insurance Agency to pay health insurance and social insurance for employees. Employers must fill in all information according to the form provided by social insurance, including: full name, date of birth, salary (recorded in labor contract), number of social insurance book (for employees who have been issued with a book), a certified copy of the company’s business registration certificate and a copy of each labor contract.

It can be seen that setting up a business requires businesses to carry out a lot of procedures and comply with many different regulations of tax, banking, labor, insurance… Therefore, besides learning about legal regulations and businesses can seek the support of professional consulting firm in Vietnam with expertise and experience in the field of business establishment to implement the process quickly and effectively.

Finding the right business partner in Vietnam is also important. We recommend doing research on the reputation of the company and individual shareholders, corporate or individual, gathering publicly available company information, and performing background checks on key personnel to find potential risks in cooperation. Working with a reliable partner can help achieve economic benefits, saving time and money in business.

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How to set up Establish company in Vietnam ? | ANT Lawyers

 Foreign investors may invest in the form of 100% capital to establish company in Vietnam, being limited liability company, joint stock company, partnership company.

Foreign investors that invest in Vietnam for the first time must have investment projects and fill in investment registration or examination procedures at state agencies in charge of investment in order to be granted investment registration certificates. Investment certificates shall concurrently be business registration certificates. Company with 100% foreign capital has founded and operated from the date of issuance of the investment certificate.

A project dossier for establishing company in Vietnam shall comprise:

- Registration/Request for issuance of Investment Certificate;

- A report on financial capability of the investor;

- Draft of the company’s charter;

- List of members of company;

- Copy of the people’s identity card, passport or other lawful personal certification, for individual members;

- Copy of the establishment decision, business registration certificate or other equivalent document, for member organizations;

- Copies of the authorization document, the people’s identity card, passport or other lawful personal certification, for authorized representatives.

- Copies of the business registration certificates of the foreign member organizations must be authenticated within three months before the date of submission of the business registration dossier by agencies where such organizations are registered;

- Written authorization of the investor in case investor is organization and valid copy of the lawful personal certification of the authorized representative. Documents in foreign languages must be translated into Vietnamese, notarized and legalized;

- The joint-venture contract or Business Cooperation Contract (BCC);

Other documents required by Vietnam law.

The establishment of a company in Vietnam would take from 30 days. The extra time might be needed in case the investment area is conditional or the State government needs to examine the investment project. Minimum capital, special licenses or other conditions might be required in certain investment projects.

We help clients overcome cultural barriers and achieve their strategic and financial outcomes, while ensuring the best interest rate protection, risk mitigation and regulatory compliance. ANT lawyers have Attorneys in Hanoi, Attorneys in Ho Chi Minh and Attorneys in Danang.

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