Startup in Ho Chi Minh City Will Be as Convenient as in Singapore

set-up company in Ho Chi Minh City

A series of specific commitments has been confirmed by HCMC’s Party Secretary Nguyen Thien Nhan to help startup environment in HCMC becoming as favorable as in Singapore.

The city is committed to preparing an industrial park reserved for newly startup and innovative businesses. Secondly, the procedure for setting up new business in HCMC will be as good as in Singapore. Third, in addition to private investment, the city will also, on a case-by-case basis, pilot public-private partnerships in support of innovative entrepreneurship.

In addition to the above 3 commitments, according to Mr Nguyen Thien Nhan, HCMC will have a general information page to reflect the creative start-up activities in the area. At the same time, he decided to meet face-to-face with the startup community twice a year to listen to their mind and remove difficulties in time.

In general, in the past year, HCMC has had very specific and significant results in comparison with other provinces in terms of start-up activities. According to director of the Department of Science and Technology of HCMC, this agency has set up 5 spaces to support innovative start-ups and links with 24 business incubators with a total floor area of over 22,000 square meters. Of which, 50% capital is from socialization.

In addition, The SpeedUp 2017 program has provided financial support tools from the budget for innovative startup projects through enterprise incubators. In the past 8 months, this program has received and processed 112 innovative startup project applications. The number of selected projects was 14/112 (12.5%), which is quite high compared to the current selection rate of many investment funds (VIISA reaches 5%, VSVA reaches 8%).

This year, the HCMC Department of Science and Technology has also set up 4 Steering Committee for Innovative Ecosystems for 4 key areas of the city, including mechanics, food processing, plastic – rubber – chemistry and information technology.

With a network of 145 consultants and innovative start-up advisors from many different disciplines, up to now, 938 start-up projects have been connected to help develop business ideas. There are 3,200 individuals and start-up groups connected to investors, experts and consultancy organizations. Moreover, over 300 startup products are promoted to the community.

However, a general assessment from the Department of Science and Technology of the City, most startups in Vietnam are newly invested at the seed stage with small scale and the possibility of breakthrough growth is not high. This is a matter of concern.

ANT Consulting assists clients with Market Entry, Legal Advice, Tax Advice and Outsourcing Services in Vietnam.

We are located in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.

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Indian Businesses Consider Vietnam as a New Investment Destination

Vietnam as a New Investment Destination

On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of Vietnam – India diplomatic relations and 10 years of strategic cooperation between the two countries, Mr P. Harish, Ambassador of India to Vietnam said that the two countries’ cooperation is very nice, many Indian businesses are considering Vietnam as a new investment destination in the region and choose to set up business in Vietnam.

India and Vietnam relationship have been developing very strongly since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1972. The two countries advanced their relationship into strategic partnership in 2007 and then became comprehensive strategy in September 2016, when the Prime Minister of India visited Vietnam. This cooperation framework includes security, defense, economic and cultural cooperation, high-level delegation exchanges and people-to-people exchanges.

In terms of trade, bilateral trade has increased tenfold, from 1.15 billion USD in fiscal year 2006 – 2007, to 10.1 billion USD in fiscal year 2016 – 2017 (according to Indian data). The two countries’ leaders have set a bilateral trade target of 15 billion USD by 2020. India is among the top 10 trading partners of Vietnam and Vietnam is India’s fifth largest trading partner in ASEAN region.

Regarding investment, Vietnam currently has 136 Indian projects, with a total registered capital of about 1.28 billion USD, including capital from India through third countries, mainly focusing on areas as oil and gas, renewable energy, minerals, agricultural product processing, information technology and automotive components. The latest project of India in Vietnam is the instant coffee processing project of Tata Coffee Company in Binh Duong province, with a total registered capital of 63 million USD.

In order to achieve this goal, Vietnam and India need to work more closely in strengthening the exchange of business delegations and encouraging investment in one another, to promote trade.

In addition, Vietnam and India are expected to strengthen connectivity in aviation and sea line. Expected this year, Vietjet will open direct flights to India. Furthermore, linkage in the banking and finance sectors is also accelerating. Also, India has also strengthened its projects in Vietnam in the areas of human resource development, IT capacity building, English language teaching and science and technology.

With such a multidisciplinary approach, we can realize a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries and explore the potentials of two nations.

ANT Consulting assists clients with Market Entry, Legal Advice, Tax Advice and Outsourcing Services in Vietnam.

We are located in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.

Talk to our consultants at +84 28 3520 2779 or email us ant@antconsult.vn

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Korea Leads in Foreign Investment into Vietnam

Among foreign investors who have been investing in Vietnam, Korea is leading with the largest amount of capital, and Korean companies are continuing to promote investment in Vietnam as well as set up business in Vietnam.

In the past 25 years, Vietnam – Korea trade has made great strides from  500 million USD in the first years to 60 billion USD today, 120 times higher than in 1992. It is expected that by 2018 this figure will increase to 70 billion USD and 100 billion USD by 2020.

In addition to the accumulated investment of 57 billion USD since 1992, in the last 4 years, Korea has invested into Vietnam 8 billion USD a year. Only in the past 11 months of 2017, the number has reached 8 billion USD. These are enormous numbers. At the same time, the quality of Korean investment capital in Vietnam is also high. This is a very positive signal in the wave of Korean investment into Vietnam.

Korea is currently the leader in foreign direct investment through establishing company in  Vietnam and bringing high technology manufacturing into Vietnam. Typically, Samsung company has set up a research and development center in Bac Ninh, Yen Bai, Thai Nguyen, and has a significant impact on the development of Vietnam’s science and technology.

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Vietnam Asks State-Owned Firms to Sell Foreign Currencies

Jun 02th, 2011, from The Wall Street Journal. HANOI—The State Bank of Vietnam has asked all state-owned firms to sell their foreign currency to banks beginning July 1, part of a plan outlined in February to eliminate the use of foreign money in the domestic market.

The central bank announced the directive Wednesday in a statement on its website. It didn’t provide details on the amount of foreign currency state-owned firms are believed to hold.

The central bank also asked banks to raise their reserve ratio for foreign-currency deposits maturing in less than 12 months to 7%, from 6%. This will raise banks’ costs to absorb dollar deposits and should eventually force them to offer lower interest rates on such deposits, discouraging the public from holding dollars.

Hanoi-based bankers said the latest steps are in line with government efforts to boost the value of the local currency, the dong, and build Vietnam’s foreign-exchange reserves. On Thursday the central bank capped the interest rate offered on individuals’ dollar deposits at 2%—down from the 3% limit set in March—and lowered the cap for corporate accounts to 0.5% from 1%.

These steps come after the dong has lost more than 15% of its value against the U.S. dollar over the past two years. The central bank has devalued the currency four times but still has failed to stop the bleeding.

“Though the government has introduced various measures to control imports, monthly trade deficits have been rising fast so far this year, making the authorities come out with new steps to support the dong’s value and improve foreign reserves,” one executive at a commercial bank said.

According to Nguyen Hai Ha, an analyst with MBCapital, one of Vietnam’s largest fund management groups, the steps will help the central bank meet short-term targets on the reserves and the exchange rate.

In the long run, however, “the dollar is expected to rise because local reserves of the U.S. currency are thin, while trade deficits continue to rise,” the analyst said.

The central bank said companies will be able to buy back dollars later if they need them.

Vietnam’s trade deficit widened to $1.7 billion in May from $1.49 billion in April, its largest monthly deficit since December 2009, government figures showed.

The country’s trade deficit during the January-May period was $6.59 billion, compared with $5.46 billion deficit a year earlier.

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VTG (Canada) Wants to Invest in The Metro Line in Hanoi

On November 22nd, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has met Mr. Richard Courey, President and CEO of Vision Transportation Group (VTG) from Canada to discuss VTG’s plan to invest in Vietnam.

At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung welcomed and highly appreciated the experiences of VTG in the field of transportation infrastructure project development in many countries around the world. According to Deputy Prime Minister, in the current context, Vietnam is advocating the mobilization of social resources to invest in developing infrastructure for socio-economic development. Therefore, the Government always welcome and appreciate the determination of potential international partners who are experienced in investing in infrastructure projects in Vietnam.

VTG has researched and proposed with Hanoi, the Government, ministries and departments to implement the project of urban railway no. 2 connecting Noi Bai airport with the West Lake area in the form of public – private partnership (PPP).

According to research of VTG, this will be the urban railway that is completely feasible in technology and the ability to recover capital, ensuring benefit for investors.

Richard Courey and his colleagues have reported to the Deputy Prime Minister on the idea, method, technology, investment progress of the project, and proposed some recommendations to the Government. Furthermore, he also affirmed that with their reputation and experiences, VTG is fully qualified in professional and financial capacity to successfully implement the project, meeting all the requirements of the Government of Vietnam.

Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister also suggested VTG to study more investment projects to develop infrastructure, especially railway transport infrastructure, including the North-South high-speed railway.

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After 11 Years, Van Phong 1 Thermal Power Project Was Licensed

Van Phong 1 thermal power project, with investment capital of 2.58 billion USD was officially granted investment certificate, marking another project of Japanese investors invest in Vietnam. This coal-fired thermal power plant has a capacity of 1,320 MW.

Van Phong 1 thermal power project was proposed by the Sumitomo Corporation (Japan) in 2006, with a capacity of 2,640 MW, covering an area of over 350 hectares, divided into two phases. Of which, the first phase has investment capital of over 2 billion USD. In 2009, the project has been approved by the Government to be implemented in the form of BOT.

However, due to many obstacles, including BOT contract negotiations, so far, the project has not yet been implemented or even cannot complete procedures to be issued investment certificate.

The project is expected to be built on an area of over 514.79 hectares, including 178.4 hectares of factory, 68 hectares of fodder land, 3.4 hectares of accommodation for professionals and 265 hectares of water surface area. Since the size of land use is quite large, the ground clearance process faced with a lot of difficulties.

However, the project has now officially been licensed. According to the plan, in early 2018, the project will be started construction.

So, from the beginning of this year, three BOT thermal power projectshave been granted investment certificates. The largest is the construction of Nghi Son 2 BOT thermal power plant with a total investment of 2.79 billion USD. The project is also invested by a Japanese investor in Thanh Hoa, aiming to design, construct, operate and transfer a coal-fired power plant with a capacity of 1,200 MW.

The second largest is Van Phong 1 thermal power plant. And third is BOT Nam Dinh 1 thermal power project, with a total investment of 2.07 billion USD.

BOT Nam Dinh 1 is invested by Singapore Investors with the objective of designing, constructing, operating and transferring a coal-fired thermal power plant with the net capacity of 1,109.4 MW.

This is the reason why, in the past 11 months, electricity production and distribution has risen to the second position among the sectors attracting the most investment, after processing industry. Total investment capital into this field is 8.37 billion USD, accounting for 25.3% of the total registered capital.

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Benefits of Setting Up Business in Danang

What are the benefits of establishing a business in Danang?

Da Nang – one of the strategic economic centers of Vietnam’s central region

The Vietnam prime minister has established central region’s strategic economic center, including 05 provinces and cities: Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh to promote potential, geographical location and competitive advantages and step by step develop this economic region to become one of the most dynamic economic region in the country. In particular, Da Nang is defined as the role of nuclear motivation for promoting the development of the central region and the highlands.

Da Nang – eastern gateway of east – west economic corridor (EWEC)

EWEC is one of five economic corridor developed by the initiative of the Asia development bank in the greater Mekong sub – region.

Currently, the road system in Laos, Thailand and the road line from Da Nang to Savannakhet are completed. The second international bridge spanning the Mekong river was completed in the end of  2006 to facilitate the circulation of goods and passengers by road line from Da Nang to the northeastern provinces of Thailand and vice versa. East-west economic corridor not only provide an opportunity for the country on the path of promoting regional cooperation and improve living standards for the people but also enable businesses better access to the raw materials market services, capital, labor and technology with the purpose of creating favorable conditions for investment and trade across the border and diversifying economic activity and exports and promoting tourism development

Da Nang – entrance of the cultural heritage and natural wonders of the world

Da Nang is located in the heart of the “world heritage road”, stretching from the central coast of Vinh city to Da Lat city. From Da Nang, along the national highway 1A, visitors can access quickly and conveniently four of five world heritages in Vietnam, including Phong Nha – Ke Bang national park (about 300 km from the north of Da Nang), the ancient capital of Hue (about 100km from the north), Hoi An (about 30km from the southeast) and My Son (about 70 km from the southwest).

With the advantage of geographical location and potential economic development in tourism, Da Nang is an ideal destination for tourists as well as investors.

Infrastructure is step by step improved

Da Nang is an important traffic hub of the central  – highlands and country with system of international airports, deep sea ports, roads, north-south railways  developed conveniently.

Da Nang port is the third largest commercial ports in Vietnam after Saigon port and the port of Hai Phong. With a depth of 11m wharf, warehouse systems and equipment upgraded by capital funds of the government of Japan, Da Nang port can receive ships with a capacity of 45,000 dwt and others such as container ships, passenger ships, cargo ships. Da Nang is the international shipping route enabling to go to Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan and Korea.

Da Nang international airport is one of the three best airports in Vietnam. In addition to domestic flights, there are weekly international flights directly from Da Nang to Singapore, Bangkok, Taipei. In the near future, the airport will open more routes to Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. Da Nang international airport is currently being upgraded and expanded to meet the needs of increasing passengers and cargo.

The system of roads in and out of the city are constantly being expanded and newly constructed

Telecommunication systems: Da Nang is one of three major telecomunication centers of the country, international transmission speed with good quality of  Southeast Asia. Da Nang post provides various and modern telecommunication services and be capable meeting the needs of customers.

The other services supporting investment (financial, banking, insurance …): most banks and finance companies of Vietnam have large branches in Da Nang. Some branches of foreign banks and international insurance companies are operating effectively in the city. These services have increasingly been improved better to meet the needs of investors.

Trained and abundant human resources

Da Nang has abundant human resources (over 50% of the population of the city), mostly young labor. Number of employees with technical expertise trained account nearly a quarter of the labor force. Labor costs in Da Nang are lower than some other cities in the country.

Da Nang is one of the provinces in the country with the high educational development index which create a favorable platform for the development of human resources of the city to perform the goal of improving the quality of human resources, quality of life. The city has about 14 universities, 15 colleges and professional schools with nearly 140,000 students. This system performs training in most areas of science, engineering, information technology, economics, business administration, language and pedagogy… Danang university also cooperates with universities of countries with an advanced education such as France, US, Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand …

Software technology center in Da Nang is one of the leading software producers in Vietnam and is the leading training center of the central region. Over the years, the software technology center  has cooperated closely with companies of India (aptech) and Japan (aots) to train programmers, technicians and engineers reaching the international standard. Many IT company has chosen Da Nang to set up company in da nang to hold their talents for international projects.

In addition, the city also has about 55 vocational training centers which often provide short-term training courses in computer science, sewing, mechanics, electricity – electronics, construction techniques, etc …

Quality of life

Along with the process of urbanization, economic growth in recent years has helped to material life and spirit of the people of Da Nang continuously improved.

Unlike other large cities in Vietnam, next to the bustle of urban development, living in Da Nang always bring a sense of peace, comfort and closeness to nature. Da Nang is one of the very few cities in Vietnam having a harmonious combination between high mountains, deep forests, long beach, deep river. After work, you can easily find space to relax beside the river or on beautiful beaches.

Da Nang today is a city with a healthy cultural environment, with urban civilized lifestyle, literacy levels elevated, beautiful natural scenery. It can be said that Da Nang is an exciting place to live, work, travel  and invest in Vietnam.

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M&A Due Diligence and Execution in Vietnam

 Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activities in Vietnam have been rapidly increasing over the the years in value and number of transactions when Vietnam’s opening policies to attract foreign investments loosen up.  The M&A due diligence and execution are therefore important steps to ensure a successful transaction.

For foreign investors wishing to take advantage with a certain level of risks in Vietnam where the cost of labour are cheap, mid-income populations are growing, and the need of capital are high, it is imporatant to find the right target companies to invest.  Challenges might arise when approaching the right local companies, locating the right decision makers within the local companies, encountering differences in languages and cultures.

It is imporant that the local consultants with the understanding of the business and legal environment in Vietnam where the local companies are incorporated could be involved at an initial stage to monitor and minimize the risks, improve the effectiveness of the M&A process in Vietnam.

The Vietnam consulting company could also provide corporate intelligence and insights of the Vietnam targeted companies to have an overall evaluation of the compliance of the Vietnam companies, possible risks involved and growth potential.  Financial forensic services might also be needed before other further steps.  Then, the following will need to be considered when undertaking the M&A in Vietnam.

Due diligence

M&A due diligence in Vietnam is a vital step because it determines whether the M&A will succeed or not. There are some aspects that must be carefully considered:

• Financial reports

Review all the financial reports of the Vietnam targeted companies within 3 to 5 years to assess the current and future financial situation. These data needs to be audited by a reputable independent auditing company. Evaluating financial situation targets on many aspects such as the reasonable connection between the financial statements, operating and sales margin of the business in relation to the average in that industry.  These data allow valuation real value of the targetbusiness.

• The cash flow

Checking the dates on invoices showing that whether targeted businesses have paid promptly or not. Term of payment may vary from industry to industry, but generally 30 to 60 days. If the money order is paid after the billing date period of 90 days or more, it means that the business owner may be struggling with cash flow. Finding out that if the clients’ inability to pay bills or not is very important.

• The staff

Determining the importance of staff for the success of the businessconsidering work habits of employees, working time of key employees; ability to remain working after a change of the owner occurs; the incentives necessary to keep key employees; ability to easily replace key employees; the relationship of key employees with the company’s customers.

• The customers

This is the most important assets of the Vietnam targeted company. Make sure that clients are as the other tangible assets of the business. Evaluating customers on some primary aspects: the relationship with the current owner of the business, customer history with business relations and the contribution of each customer to the profits of the company; assessing that customer will leave or stay when the business having new owners; customer services and dispute of the company, the relationship of the former owner of the business with the community or the industry.

• Business location

This is especially important if the targeted company is a retail company. Does the importance of business location play a crucial role for the success of the company? How is the location of the company you plan to acquire? Is there sufficient parking lot for customers? How does the company depend on sales in the region? How is the prospects of the business in this area? Does this place have been in the process of rapid change from new residential district office building or not? Has business location become more or less desirable because of contemplated changes in surrounding area or not?

• Competitors

Considering this aspect in order to define the capacity of the targeted business in the industry, the following questions would help: who are its competitor and what are their strategies? Does the price war happen frequently? How has the competitive environment changed?

• Business registration, permits and zoning

It’s necessary to make sure that business registration certificate and other legal documents can be easily given to the buyer. It would be better to acknowledge the procedures to transfer these documents and its fee with the help of local management consulting company in Vietnam. If the targeted company is a joint-stocks company, what is the procedure for the business registration? Can foreigners own the company 100% according to Vietnam laws?  Conditional investments in Vietnam need to be considered carefully by lawyers in Vietnam to avoid mishaps.

• The company image

Company image can be a significant asset and that cannot be assessed in the financial report. There are many intangible factors to consider when evaluating a company: how to serve customers, how employees answer the phone and the level of support the community or the industry.

Negotiate the price

It is important to understand the purpose and motivation of both parties. The sellers’ motivation are formed and affected by value drivers. There are two main value drivers which are approach value and avoidance value. Approach value is our purpose such as prosperity and avoidance value is the negative effect that we need to eliminate. Normally, the buyers try to find out what are the reasons why the owner wish to sell the companies. This will help the buyers plan a reasonable strategy beforehand.

A research analyzes the general aspects that the buyers seeking for via conducting surveys companies’ owner who have sold or transformed their enterprises. The research results are focus on profit maximization (79%), minimization of tax payable (73%), protection of viability of the company (71%)…(Source: Acquisition Marketplace Review, 2007).

The motivation of the buyer in most cases is similar to the motivation of the seller, which is to maximize profits, expand markets, increase revenue, operating areas, areas of activity, minimize taxes…

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Samsung Invests Aggressively in Bac Ninh Province

With the favorable and open business environment, Vietnam has committed to be the attractive investment destination for multinational enterprises to come and set up business in Vietnam.

Samsung wants to raise the total investment in Bac Ninh to 6.5 billion USD and transferred the model from high-tech project to large-scale project…

Bac Ninh Provincial People’s Committee has just sent an official letter to the Prime Minister on supporting Samsung Display Co., Ltd Vietnam (SDV) in the process of project expansion in Bac Ninh province.

According to the Provincial People’s Committee of Bac Ninh, so far SDV has raised investment capital to 4 billion USD. Reportedly, SDV’s total revenue in 2015 was 2.7 billion USD, in which exports reached 2.5 billion USD. Accumulated to October 2016, SDV has revenue of 5.9 billion USD.

Project disbursement schedule of Samsung by the end of 2016 is estimated at 2.5 billion USD. Expected in 2017, Samsung will disburse the registered capital of 4 billion USD in Bac Ninh.

Bac Ninh confirmed that SDV has done on schedule and as planned when the entire Module 3 project when come into operation will be a prerequisite to attract more companies to serve SDV.

Notably, SDV has expressed their desire to invest an additional of 2.5 billion USD, disbursed in 5 years since 2018. Thereby, raising the total investment in Bac Ninh to 6.5 billion USD.

Recently, according to Mr. Hyun Woo Bang – Deputy General Director of Samsung Vietnam, in 2016, although the Company has to face with the problem of Samsung Galaxy Note 7, thanks to the support of the Government and Ministries in Vietnam, Samsung has overcome difficult period. In 2016, revenue of Samsung Vietnam reached 46.3 billion USD; exports reached 39.9 billion USD, increased by 9.9% compared to 2015.

Samsung accounted for 22.7% of export turnover nationwide, a slight increase compared to the rate of 20% of the previous year.

Reportedly, Bac Ninh is the province that attracting a lot of foreign investment projects in Vietnam. Moreover, Bac Ninh is the investment destination of 30 countries and territories around the world. Accumulated up to the present time, in the Industrial Zones in Bac Ninh province, 1,050 projects are licensed with a total investment of 13.1 billion USD. FDI sector has created 231,000 jobs.

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