Binh Duong Welcomed 1 Billion USD Project

Set-up company in Binh Duong

Many foreign corporations have chosen Vietnam to become their investment destination to set up business in Vietnam and the most recent project coming from a Korean investor. This is the project to produce tire and automobile airbags of Kolon Industries Corporation (Korea). This “super plant” will be located at Bau Bang Industrial Zone of Binh Duong province.

Mr Tran Thanh Liem – Chairman of Binh Duong Province has just signed a memorandum of understanding with leader of Kolon Industries Group (Korea) concerning the implementation of the plant to produce tire and automobile airbag with investment capital up to 1 billion USD. On this occasion, Becamex IDC Corporation has also announced that Kolon Industries leases from them nearly 42 hectares of land in Bau Bang Industrial Zone (Binh Duong province) to put the plant on.

According to Kolon Industries Corporation, after more than two years of searching and working with many units and localities in and outside the territory of Vietnam, the Corporation has selected the Bau Bang Industrial Park as the location to implement the project to produce tire and automobile air bag in Vietnam. The expected total investment capital of the project for all three phases is about 1 billion USD, in which the Phase 1 from 2017 to 2018 is 220 million USD, Phase 2 from 2018 to 2026 is 600 million USD and after that is the Phase 3.

Established since 1954, Kolon is one of Korea’s transnational corporations in multiple industries with high-tech products: tire, automobile air bag, film to use in electricity industry, electronics, fashion….

By the end of October 2016, Binh Duong has 2,818 investment projects from 59 countries and territories with a total capital of 25, 6 billion USD. In particular, Korea is the country ranks 3rd with 594 projects and a total investment of nearly 2.4 billion USD.

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

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Canadian Investors Invest in Binh Dinh Province

Setting up company in Vietnam

Seldat Vietnam Co., Ltd (coming from Canada) went to Vietnam to set up business by implementing the garment factory project.

Department of Planning and Investment of Binh Dinh province has just granted certificate of investment registration for Seldat Vietnam Co., Ltd (investors from Canada) to invest in Seldat Vietnam garment factory project in An Hoa village, Nhon Khanh commune, An Nhon town, with a total investment of nearly 1.2 million USD.

Accordingly, the project will invest 5 production lines with designed capacity of 2 million products/year, products are mainly exported to the US market. The project is built on an area of 2,440m2 and is expected to be completed and put into operation in quarter II/2017.

The project is licensed within the first days of the year so that it can be considered a meaningful gift for the efforts of the Binh Dinh province in attracting investment. Binh Dinh province has consistently implemented reforms, simplification of administrative procedures, thereby contributing to create an open investment environment, attracting investors to come to the province. Up to date, Binh Dinh has 69 FDI projects, total registered capital of 783 million USD, mainly are investors coming from potential economies in the world like the US, China, Japan, France, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand….

In 2017, in order to continue to be an attractive destination for investors, besides the administrative reform, leaders of Binh Dinh province will strengthen dialogue with businesses in order to listen to their desire, disassemble any difficulties and obstacles to improve the investment and business environment, promoting economic development of the locality.

Currently, the Department of Planning and Investment of Binh Dinh is finalizing the draft scheme for implementation of the model “one door, one door interconnection”, preparing to submit to the leaders of Binh Dinh province for consideration and promulgation. At the same time, the E-Regulations project (electronic regulation system). The website has been completed, fully published the procedures relating to foreign investment so that investors can access and search for information about the investment procedures when investing in Binh Dinh.

According to Director of Investment Promotion Centre (IPC) of Binh Dinh, Binh Dinh province’s goal is to continue to invest in development of Nhon Hoi Economic Zone and industrial zones as planned for these places to become seeds of the province’s growth in the sectors such as industry, tourism services, urban; create motivation and basis so that until 2020, Binh Dinh province can basically become developed province of the central region.

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Japanese Investors Want to Implement Kobe Cow Raising Project

Setting up company in Vietnam

Livestock breeding is one of the important economic sectors in Vietnam. However, it appears that due to the competition pressure, disease, and lack of the control of the authority, the quality of the products have been negatively impacted. It is important for Vietnam to encourage project to set-up business in Vietnam in animal breeding to create a better competition environment, with high quality standard of products to be produced under a better control of the local state authorities.

Mr. Hironori Sakai, Secretary General of the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Association, had just have working visit to Quang Binh province (Vietnam) to survey implementing the Kobe cow raising project.

The delegation was welcomed by Vice Chairman of Quang Binh People’s Committee Mr. Nguyen Xuan Quang and leaders of Departments of Planning and Investment, Agriculture and Rural Development, Natural Resources and Environment, Foreign Affairs, Port Authority, Provincial Customs Department.

At the meeting, leaders of the Quang Binh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reported on some issues related to the Kobe cow raising project in the province.

Accordingly, the Department has also introduced the locations in Quang Tien, Quang Luu Commune (Quang Trach District) and Truong Xuan, Truong Son (Quang Ninh District) for investors to select and deploy the project.

At the present, the whole province has about 2,200 hectares of grass and maize for cattle feed. When implementing the project, the Department will direct localities to actively convert other areas of rice and inefficient crops into grass and maize to ensure sufficient feed supply for the project.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Quang stressed that the investment in cattle breeding project in Quang Binh is in line with the provincial policies and orientations. The province is willing to create favorable conditions for Japanese business delegations to explore the necessary conditions for the investment procedures.

In addition, Vice Chairman Nguyen Xuan Quang also requested the Japanese business delegation to coordinate with the relevant departments and localities to complete the legal procedures to implement the cow raising project in Quang Binh province in the shortest time.

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

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Vietnam Real Estate Ranks Second in Attracting FDI

Real Estate market entry into Vietnam

In the first quarter of 2017, the real estate sector continued to grow steadily as it continued to rank second in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) and the number of newly established businesses continued to increase. Those are good signs showing that foreign investors prefer to invest and set up company in Vietnam.

According to the Vietnam National Real Estate Association (VNREA), in a total of 7.71 billion USD registered FDI in the first quarter of 2017, the real estate business sector attracted 0.34 billion USD, accounting for 4.5% of total registered capital and ranked second after processing and manufacturing industries in attracting FDI.

The most remarkable project in the field of real estate in the first quarter was the Vietnam – Singapore Industrial Park III project, which is invested in Hoi Nghia commune (Tan Uyen town) and Tan Lap commune (Bac Tan Uyen district), Binh Duong province, on an area of 1,000 hectares with investment capital of 284.7 million USD, invested by Vietnam – Singapore Industrial Park Joint Venture Limited Company (VSIP).

The first quarter, also recorded 924 real estate businesses were newly established, increasing 55% in number of enterprises and 34% in capital.

According to real estate professionals, in the second quarter, the resort real estate market will continue to grow strongly, attracting the attention of both foreign and domestic investors thanks to the great tourism potential of Vietnam.

Regarding capital for real estate development, it is forecasted that FDI capital will still accounts for a high proportion, domestic capital is the main source of capital. Capital in the people and remittances will be mobilized more, especially investment in the tourism and resort sectors.

Real estate transactions are expected to increase as some large projects with thousands of units are soon to be offered for sale. However, investors are advised to be cautious in selecting projects with good incentives and professional operators to invest.

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

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Will Form New Value Chain in Vietnam – Japan Economic Cooperation

Set-up business in Vietnam

Japan has truly become a strategic partner of Vietnam. Currently, trade activities between the two countries are being promoted and more and more Japanese businesses choose to set up company in Vietnam.

According to Mr. Hironobu Kitagawa, Chief Representative of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Vietnam, it is not just a single sector investment, the integration of industry groups to create new value chains is essential for Vietnam -Japan economic cooperation.

During the recent visit to Japan by Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, many collaboration memorandum have been signed, as well as 1,600 attendees pointed out that Japanese enterprises pay high attention to the investment in Vietnam. In the eyes of Japanese businesses, Vietnamese market is a continuous growing market. In addition to the second group of industries (manufacturing and processing industries), enterprises will expand into other sectors such as the first industry group (agriculture sector) and the third industry group (service industries).

Japanese side affirmed that they would continue to support Vietnam in implementing the plans of the 6 selected industries in order to accelerate Vietnam’s industrialization and modernization process. Basically, direct investment from abroad will boost domestic industry and boost economic growth. Of course, if foreign economic relations accelerate, the ability to create new business opportunities will be greater, while stimulating the domestic consumption market. Therefore, through the receipt of investment from abroad, the building of mutually beneficial relationship is necessary.

Increasing investment from Japan in 6 areas (especially electronics, food processing and car accessories) is the focus for accumulation of supporting industries. This is expected to contribute to the nurturing of Vietnamese enterprises. Moreover, JETRO will continue to contribute to the development of supporting industries in Vietnam by organizing annual supporting industry exhibitions.

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

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ISE Foods (Japan) Explores Investment Opportunities in Quang Tri

Set-up factory in Vietnam

ISE Foods Group (Japan) came to Quang Tri province to discuss the opportunities to set up business in Vietnam, including the development of hi-tech breeding, chicken egg production farm, renewable energy and food processing in Quang Tri.

At the meeting, according to Mr Yukihiro Akimoto, the group formed more than 120 years ago, specializing in the development of the largest scale chicken farms in Japan and ranked third in the United States.

In addition, the Group has strengths in other fields such as high technology breeding development, renewable energy and food processing. During the trip to explore investment opportunities in Quang Tri, ISE Foods wishes to promote investment in food production and energy development.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Nguyen Duc Chinh – Chairman of Quang Tri Provincial People’s Committee informed the delegation about the overall results of the investment attraction in Quang Tri in the recent time.

Chairman of Quang Tri Provincial People’s Committee said that ISE Foods Group (Japan) is a famous corporation in the world on chicken egg production and chicken egg production investment of the group in Quang Tri is a potential project. In addition to egg production, the development of renewable energy is also an area where the Government of Vietnam as well as Quang Tri province pay close attention.

Moreover, Chairman of Quang Tri Provincial People’s Committee also hopes that after this trip, the two sides will quickly find opportunities to cooperate on the project. The PPC is committed to support and create favorable conditions for ISE to rapidly deploying the project.

During the visit and work in Quang Tri, ISE Foods Group visited field sites for high-tech breeding, chicken egg production in Dakrong, Trieu Phong and Gio Linh districts, visiting the proposed site which is expecting to produce solar power in Vinh Linh district.

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

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Many Foreign Brands Are Coming to Vietnam

Vietnam company formation

Realizing that Vietnam is a promising market, foreign enterprises want to do business in Vietnam through the form of franchising. Recently, many consumer goods, fashion and cosmetics brands from Japan and Thailand are promoting the franchise with Vietnamese partners and enterprises.

In the framework of the program “Vietnam – Thailand Enterprises Interaction in The Field of Franchising” which was held in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) recently, there were 40 Thailand enterprises operating in the food, beverage, restaurant, supermarket, health care, cosmetic sectors joined to find partners in Vietnam.

According Mr Nupartpat Sutthitham, Director of the MP Mart convenience store chain (Thailand), currently in Thailand there are 3 MP Mart stores, in which the model is not the same as Family Mart or Circle K. While Family Mart sells mainly food (80%), MP Mart sells mainly fast moving consumer goods, which are produced in Thailand (70%).

According to representatives of MP Mart, the cost to open a store in Thailand with an average area of 150 m2 is approximately 50,000 USD. Realizing the Vietnam market has many opportunities, MP Mart wants to explore and this is the first time this brand comes to Vietnam. The criteria for selection of investors, partners of MP Mart are having financial resources to be able to scaling this model in large numbers in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, according to representatives of Kokekokko – a well-known chicken fast food brand in Thailand with 5 stores, using Japanese spices to marinate chicken. Representatives of this brand also did not hide their intention to find partners with business understanding and financial resources to open stores in Vietnam.

Also in late November of 2016, there were 9 Japan enterprises with 14 fashion brands came to Vietnam to find partners to open franchise stores or distribute products in the domestic market.

According to Mr Akira Kaise, representatives of I Am Company Limited, this fashion brand has been presented in many markets around the world such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Korea, Taiwan, Spain, UK, Netherlands… and this is the first time he comes to Vietnam to study the market.

Representative of I Am Co., Ltd commented that young population, good economic development, increasing people’s incomes… are factors to make Vietnam becoming a potential market for fashion items. In addition to the market penetration, the Company is also interested in outsourcing or investing in Vietnam to take advantage of low labor costs and highly skilled labors.

At the Vietnam market, Japanese businesses are often mentioned in the culinary field, meanwhile, the fashion, cosmetics or beauty brands are not widely known by consumers. Thus, recently, many Japanese cosmetic brands have decided to enter the market of Vietnam and looking for official distributors.

In an activity operated by the Esuhai Company of Vietnam recently in HCMC, there were nearly 10 cosmetic brands of Japan participated. Among them, the brand Kose is well known by many consumers.

According to the representative of Kose, this enterprise has been established since 1946, global sales reached 2.1 billion USD a year and has been presented in 18 countries. However, so far, this brand does not have official distribution channel in Vietnam market. Therefore, along with the promotion of market presence and product introduction, on this occasion, Kose desires to find agents and official partner in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, according to representatives of Nippon Menard Cosmetic Company, owner of the brand Menard, the Company is fully confident to introduce their products to consumers in Vietnam and wanted to find good partners to be able to access to more consumers.

According to the representatives of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in HCMC, Vietnam currently has more than 93 million populations, of which half are women who want to become more beautiful as earnings are improving and willing to spend the budget for beauty and body care. Therefore, this is a favorable time and good opportunity for the Japanese cosmetics brand to penetrate the market of Vietnam.

However, there is the fact that the Japanese cosmetic and fashion products are priced relatively high compared to the average income of local consumers. In addition, the Japanese fashion is not common in Vietnam market. Therefore, this is seen as the first step for the fashion and cosmetic brands of Japan to explore the market and find partners.

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

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Highlights in Real Estate Investment in Vietnam

Real Estate intelligence in Vietnam

Vietnam is attracting interest of investors in both domestic and foreign market. Overall, investor confidence was returning to the Vietnam real estate market. Both buyers and sellers have enhanced activity in recent months.

The real estate market of Vietnam has overcome the recession period within 4 or 5 years ago but in the last 12 months, the market has recovered and noted positive signs as well as confidence in the market in general.

Law on housing and real estate business Law takes effect in July 2015 and has acted quickly and positively on the real estate market in Vietnam. The changes in the Law on housing have significantly eased the regulations on home ownership for foreigners, although there are still some limitations.

“Hot spots” of FDI inflows

According to a recent report of Jones Lang LaSalle Vietnam (JLL), a series of free trade agreements such as TPP, EU and ASEAN will further promote the medium and long term development. Interest rates and inflation rate have declined significantly and became more stable in the past two years, helping the investment activity to occur more positive in both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. With some domestic and foreign investors such as CapitaLand and Keppel Land, they have spurred the construction activities thanks to the growing revenue in the last 12 months.

Accordingly, the amount of disbursed FDI in the period from January to September of 2015 rose by 8.4% compared to the same period last year, reaching 9.7 billion USD. This is the strongest growth since the late 1980s, contrary to the slowdown of the Chinese economy. The amount of registered capital of new investors also rose even more sharply with 11 billion USD, focused primarily on the manufacturing industry, in which the energy and electronics industries are the sectors with the highest registered capital investment in the year, followed by the real estate sector.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, FDI investment in the industrial park in Vietnam accounted for 67% of total FDI in Vietnam with 11 billion USD and accounting for 59% of the total 1,400 projects in the first 9 months of 2015. A notable transaction is the event that Amata Corporation acquired the land worth 279 million USD in Long Thanh (Dong Nai) for the purpose of building residential and industrial areas valued of 500 million USD.

According to JLL, the residential real estate prices in Vietnam maintained an average rate with 2 bedroom apartments, 70 m2, 10 – 15 minutes to reach the central area of Ho Chi Minh City, which are sold at the price of 1,600 – 2,000 USD/m2, equivalent to 112,000 – 140,000 USD/apartment. When compared with the big cities in the region, the price is believed to increase significantly.

Who dominated the real estate market of Vietnam?

JLL’s report showed that domestic investors are boosting investment activity in the real estate market of Vietnam. The largest real estate investors in Vietnam are Vingroup and Novaland Group.

Vingroup is Vietnam’s largest real estate development and management with market capitalization of about 3.4 billion USD. Vingroup’s investment portfolio includes 45 real estate projects spread across many sectors of the real estate market, including Vinhomes luxury apartments and villas; Vincom Center and Vincom Mega Mall; Vincom Office; 5 star Vinpearl resort; Vinpearl Luxury resort….

Novaland Group has participated in the real estate market in 2007 with the first project is Sunrise City with investment capital of 500 million USD located on Nguyen Huu Tho road, district 7. The real estate business of Novaland focused on the apartment complex segment from mid to high classes and the segment of house land with 25 projects that are being implemented throughout the downtown districts.

Vietnam is becoming an attractive place for foreign investment in the medium term than many other countries in Southeast Asia. Data from Real Capital Analytics (RCA) recorded that there are more attention from a number of private investment funds that are allocated foreign capital into Vietnam in an attempt to increase their market presence in Vietnam.

In the 2nd quarter of 2015, a joint venture of Warburg Pincus – a US investment fund, has invested 100 million USD into Vincom Retail, the Vietnam’s largest trade center ownership and management in Vietnam. Also in this quarter, Gaw Capital Partners has received the transfer of 4 real estate projects under various segments from Indochina Land with a total value of 106 million USD. Gamuda Land has also receive the transfer of 40% shares (equivalent to 64.1 million USD) in the Celadon City project, a modern urban area with initial investment by a joint venture between Sacomreal, Thanh Thanh Cong (TTC) and An Phu Gia.

The current real estate profit margin is high

JLL’s analysis shows that investors are now enjoying 6 – 7% profitability rate for residential real estate and 9 – 11% for commercial real estate, depending on location, completion time, quality of the project and the signing time of the tenants.

According to General Director of JLL Vietnam, real estate investment in emerging markets has always been seen as risky investments but with higher potential profits. Investors are willing to engage in joint venture projects in these markets, where they will combine with local investors who wish to have capital supporting – in order to have a foothold in the market before and also experience the exponential growth in the future when the economy of these market growing fast.

Moreover, the emerging markets such as Vietnam will have the potential growth factors, including population growth and high urbanization rate. Investors and project developers can take advantage of these factors.

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

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Sustainable development in Vietnam

Sustainable Development in Vietnam

Achievement of sustainable development in Vietnam

The sustainable development objectives including economic, social development and environment protection have been integrated into national priority development together with economic growth objective.

With a stable GDP and economic growth, improvement of education, Vietnamese citizens have gained more knowledge about gender quality, environmental and other social issues, thus, creating campaigns to support collective action. For example, the campaign collecting garbage along beaches in Vietnam attracted more than 1000 students to participate in which indicated collective action to mitigate effect of disaster and climate change.

Vietnamese government has significantly improved the rate of hunger eradication, poverty reduction, population, job creation, education and healthcare. Particularly, in 2014, total state budget for hunger eradication and poverty reduction were more than 34 billion VND. Thus, the poverty rate took a nosedive from 14.2% in 2010 to 1.8-2% in 2014, proving average reduction of 2% per year national wide.

The state fund for environmental protection has been increased, thus the policies for environmental protection has put into regular operation. By executing tax exemption for environmental friendly enterprises, businesses in Vietnam have been more aware of coordinating environmental protection policies into long term vision and mission.

Vietnam takes part in international agreement to show commitment to sustainable development such as: WTO, United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change, United Nation Convention to combat desertification, the convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora…

Challenges of sustainable development in Vietnam

There have been some challenges in Vietnam when implementing sustainable development policies. An increase in natural disaster, degenerated natural resource (water and biodiversity resources), wasteful and ineffective production and consumption are causing huge destruction to various local communities.

Even though there have been some supporting policies for enterprises in Vietnam to implement sustainable development policies, they have not obtained full awareness of the link between good environmental, social, and governance performance and the ability of companies to be profitable and survive in turbulent times. Therefore, most of the firms succeeded in promoting sustainable development practices are international businesses.

Sustainable development in business

Since Vietnam takes part in international trade agreements, there will be more international and institutional investors need the information of material environmental, social and governance information about company performance to decide whether to make investment decision.

Sustainable development of the business should be proven by social factors (employee compensation, benefits, staff turnover, safety practices, diversity and local community) and environmental factors (energy efficiency, GHS emissions, biodiversity conservation, water usage, natural resource use, waste to energy and recycling practices). These factors are crucial for investors as they indicates how the company takes into account risks, opportunities, management approach, stakeholder value and long term development.

Sustainability report has been strongly recommended by Vietnamese government. Vietnam Brewery Ltd is one of a few leading companies taking this report seriously. Their report in 2014 stated that the company switched from diesel to biomass as boiler fuel, reducing direct CO2 emissions as a result. In addition to reducing our carbon footprint and mitigating the effects of global warming, the local community has also benefitted from the programme with an additional income from the sale of rice husks. The company also highlighted the code of conduct which allowed the employees to voice their opinions. There have been also other big cooperation taking part in the trend for example Bao Viet Corporation, Vinamilk, Hau Giang Pharmacy…

In conclusion, in order for enterprises in Vietnam to actively engage in sustainable development and voluntarily adopt sustainability as common practice, Vietnamese government should take more urgent actions.

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

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Korean Capital Flows into Renewable Energy

Energy market in Vietnam

Vietnam has issued many policies and incentives for the development of the power sector. This is a good time to attract foreign capital into Vietnam energy industry, including those from Korea.

According to Mr Nguyen Van Vy, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Energy Association, with the goal of raising the proportion of electricity produced from renewable energy to 32% by 2030 and 43% by 2050, Vietnam currently has about 50 wind power projects, more than 100 solar power projects and many other biomass energy development projects are under study.

Meanwhile, according to the National Electricity Development Plan 2011 – 2020 with a vision to 2030, Vietnam will accelerate the development of electricity production from renewable energy and reduce the proportion of hydropower.

In order to realize these objectives, Vietnam has promulgated many policies and incentives to encourage the development of renewable energy, such as investment credit, import tax, export tax, enterprise income tax, exempt land use fees and land rents for renewable energy projects, provide financial support for scientific and technological research activities on energy. At the same time, calling for investment and receiving science and technology to develop the domestic electricity equipment industry.

More recently, many Korean businesses have come to the provinces to look for investment opportunities in renewable energy projects, such as IL Yang Industrial Co., Ltd., proposed to Quang Tri province to invest in building solar power plant in Hai Lang District (capacity 500 MW) and Vinh Linh District (capacity 200 MW); Or VTC company, after inquiring in Bac Lieu province, they are preparing large capital for wind power project and if approved, they will quickly expedite the necessary procedures as prescribed.

At the Vietnam – Korea Renewable Energy and Power Industry Forum recently held in Ho Chi Minh City, according to Mr Paik Un Gyu – Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy of Korea, the two countries have long-term cooperation potential in the fields of energy, renewable energy and smart grid.

According to Mr Paik Un Gyu, Korea will actively invest in power generation and renewable energy development projects in Vietnam as a strategic partner. In addition, Korea also supports the training of human resources and technology transfer to develop internal power and renewable energy in Vietnam.

On this occasion, at the 8th Session of the Vietnam – Korea Joint Committee for Cooperation in Nuclear Power, Energy, Industry and Trade, the two sides agreed on a number of bilateral cooperation. In particular, there are many cooperation in the field of energy, such as cooperation in projects to build power plants in the form of BOT; cooperation in the field of oil and gas; cooperation in renewable energy; cooperation on energy security management; development cooperation in supporting industries…

This is the basic content for the two countries to develop and implement concrete and practical projects to further develop cooperation in the fields of industry, trade and energy in 2018 and the coming years.

According to Korean businesses, now is a good time for enterprises to learn about the strategy and planning for development of electricity and renewable energy as well as contact and exchange directly with the leading enterprises of Vietnam. Accordingly, enterprises of the two countries can consider the possibility of cooperation in various forms, such as joint venture investment in the development of power projects, cooperation in providing technology, equipment and specialized materials.

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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Ho Chi Minh City Attracted over 4.1 Billion USD FDI Capital

Set-up company in Ho Chi Minh City

That is the information released at the meeting on socio-economic situation in the first 6 months of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, which was held on July 3rd. Accordingly, HCMC remains an outstanding investment destination for foreign investors to set up company in Vietnam.

Specifically, HCMC has granted investment registration certificates to 483 FDI projects with a total investment capital of 486.53 million USD (equivalent to 128.8% of new projects and 121.8% of investment capital over the same period).

With the newly licensed projects, in terms of sectors, the manufacturing and processing industries attract the most investment capital with 27.2%; followed by real estate business with 25.5%… In terms of the nationality of investors, Korea has the largest proportion of investment capital with 30.3%; followed by Singapore with 22%…

The city also licensed 136 projects to increase capital with total investment capital of 417.21 million USD (equaling 137.4% of adjusted projects and 113.1% of investment capital over the same period).

In addition, the City also approved 1,421 cases where foreign investors implemented procedures to contribute capital, purchase shares, buy back capital contributions from domestic enterprises, with registered capital equivalent to 3.28 billion USD (compared with the same period, equivalent to 134.6% of cases and 153.7% of investment capital).

In this form of investment, in terms of industry/sector, real estate business has the most investment capital with 43%; followed by professional, science and technology activities with 21.5%…

In terms of both capital attracted in the form of granting investment registration certificate and capital attracted through the form of capital contribution, share purchase, capital contribution in the domestic enterprises, HCMC has attracted 4.18 billion USD (equal to 144.1% over the same period).

According to statistics, so far in HCMC, there are 7,910 effective FDI projects with total investment capital including new and capital increase projects of 45.05 billion USD.

In the first half of 2018, the Management Board of the Export Processing and Industrial Zones of HCMC has granted 12 projects; Ho Chi Minh City Hi-tech Park Management Board has granted 3 projects and Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Investment has granted 468 projects.

One noteworthy point is that newly licensed FDI projects in HCMC have increased in terms of number of projects and registered capital compared to the same period last year, but the scale of investment is still small (average only 1 million USD/project).

In particular, the project of Samil Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Korea) in Saigon Hi-Tech Park with registered capital of 40 million USD is one of the largest projects. The project is built on an area of 7,500 m2, with the goal of developing and producing eye drops (single dose and multiple doses); research, development and production of special drugs after eye surgery, stem cell medicine for eye treatment… According to the plan, the project will be built immediately after being licensed and officially started operation from the end of 2021.

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

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Is Apple About to Set-up Company in Vietnam?

Vietnam company formation

In the August 2015 work plan of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, it has been recently revealed that a section to review the registration of a company named Apple Vietnam company limited. Is it the American multinational teconology company with its famous products i.e. Mac, Ipod, Iphone, Ipad, Apple watch…about to set-up company in Vietnam to promote and distribute its own products i.e. the upcoming Iphone 6s, and Iphone 6s plus?

According to the information from the official dealer of Apple in Vietnam, Apple has already had a representative in Vietnam and began contacting with agents in the country from early 2015. The current business activities of Apple with domestic partners are done through Apple Thailand. Therefore, Apple’s representative in Vietnam will help to smooth out this arrangement because of the better understanding the local market and no language barrier.

Although Apple has not had their representative office or official company in Vietnam but they have many authorized dealers to sell its products. Apple products like the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have always led the top 10 selling phones in many domestic retail systems since its launching in late 2014. According to the statistic of IDC, in the first quarter of 2015, Apple ranked 2nd in value in the largest smart phone manufacturers in Vietnam; in the tablet market, Apple accounted for 16.6% of the market – ranked 2nd in the market – but accounted for 29.1%, the highest in terms of market value.

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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Banking Sector in Vietnam

Banking regulatory in Vietnam

1. Overview

Vietnam’s banking sector has shown significant improvement which results from stable inflation and interested rate, favorable environment for foreign direct investment and a shift from deficit to surplus of the country’s current account. This sector plays a crucial role in Vietnam’s economic development in recent years.

2.Banking system

There are two tiers in banking sector in Vietnam. The first one is State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) which is responsible for monetary policy and supervision/regulation of the banking system in Vietnam. The second one consists of commercial banks, financial companies, credit co-operatives, people’s credit funds, and insurance companies. The main activity driving banking system is commercial bank which includes 5 state-owned commercial banks, 33 joint stock commercial banks, 5 joint venture commercial banks and 5 wholly-owned foreign owned bank.

State owned commercial banks (SOCB) account for more than 40% of market share. The largest bank in terms of total assets, network and still 100% state owned share is Agribank. And four other SOCB areVietcom bank, Viettin Bank, BIDV and MHB.

Joint stock commercial banks (JSCB) have small capital/deposit base and more diversified shareholding structured compared to state owned commercial banks. There are currently 33 JSCB, which the leading ones are SaiGon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), Military Joint Stock Commercial Bank (MBB), Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (EIB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and SaiGonThuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (STB)

Also SBV had granted 5 licences to permit HSBC, Standard Charter Bank, ANZ Bank, Shinhan Bank and Hong Leong Bank to establish as wholly-owned foreign banks

3.Potential opportunities for foreign investment

There are solid evidences to prove that Vietnam’s banking sector has such a huge potential for foreign investment

Government effort of reforming banking system

SBV suggested that merge and acquisition of loss making and incompetent bank would be necessary to improve efficiency within the industry. For example, in 2015, SBV forced merge of loss making Vietnam Construction Bank to Vietcom bank with purchasing share price for 0 VND. By forcing merge and acquisition of incompetent banks, SBV has increased exploitation of economies of scale and the reduced burden on regulators

Trade agreements facilitate foreign ownership and investment

Have taken part in variety of trade agreement such as Trans Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TTP), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Free Trade Agreement with different countries, Vietnam has made restructuring move to standardize banking system which will be compatible and accessible to other countries. Vietnam is required to have bilateral arrangement which eliminate the challenges of foreign establishment of banking services.

The government also encourages foreign investors to hold shares for five year period and partnering with the local bank to enhance management, capacity or new development. With the 30% limit of oversea ownership to domestic banks, the strategic foreign investors are allowed to acquire up to 15% of share in a bank, and up to 20% with Prime Ministerial approval. HSBC has also invested in a leading local bank, possessing a 20% stake in the Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank—Techcombank. It is also the sole foreign strategic partner of the BaoViet Finance-Insurance Group, Vietnam’s largest insurance company. In a vote of confidence in the insurer, HSBC increased its stake to 18% in October 2009.

Vietnam- a destination of foreign investment in South East Asian market

There is a huge untapped market in Vietnam. According to SBV, only 20% of more than 90 million citizens in Vietnam hold bank accounts and 3% of the population have credit cards. With 87% of the population under the age of 54, there is a great opportunity for retail banking activity development in Vietnam.

Also it is agreed that SME and rural areas have had challenges to access bank investment and loan. The data of Asian Development Bank shows that “lack the capacity to assess the risk of investment into SMEs and find bankable projects” and lack of knowledge about loan and lending systems for rural citizens are the main reasons leading to currentunder-banked circumstances.

The stable economic with GDP growth of around 6% to 7%; low wage costs; a large population with a high savings rate and lack of innovative approach to the market are advantages for foreign investors to accelerate financial and industrial development in Vietnam market.

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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Potential of Vietnam Wind Power

Wind Energy business consultant in Vietnam

Located in the monsoon subtropical area with long coastline, Vietnam has fundamental advantages to develop wind energy. When comparing the average wind speed in the East Sea of Vietnam and the surrounding sea areas, the result showed that wind in the East Sea of Vietnam is fairly strong and seasonally change.

The World Bank (WB) conducted a detailed survey about wind power in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. According to this study, among the four surveyed countries, Vietnam has the largest potential for wind power and better than the neighboring countries like Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

Vietnam has 8.6% of the territory is rated as “good” and “very good” for the construction of large wind stations, while in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, the numbers are 0.2%, 2.9% and 0.2% respectively. The total wind power potential of Vietnam is estimated to reach 513,360 MW, more than 200 times the capacity of Son La Hydropower Plant, and more than 10 times the total forecasting capacity of the power sector in 2020.

Vietnam has up to 41% rural areas that can develop small wind powers. Comparing this figure with the neighboring countries, the rural areas that can develop wind power in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand are 6%, 13% and 9% respectively. It is indeed a privilege for Vietnam.

In Vietnam, the areas that can develop wind power do not spread across the entire territory. With the influence of monsoon, the wind regime is also different in each area. If the northern of Hai Van Pass, the strong wind season coincides with the northeast wind season, in which the most potential areas are Quang Ninh, Quang Binh and Quang Tri. In the southern part of Hai Van Pass, the strong wind season coincides with the southwest wind season, in which the most potential areas are the Tay Nguyen area, the coastal provinces of the Mekong Delta and especially the coastal areas of Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan.

According to research conducted by the World Bank, in the territory of Vietnam, the two most potential areas for wind energy development is Son Hai (Ninh Thuan) and sand hills at the height of 60 – 100 meters from the west of Ham Tien to Mui Ne (Binh Thuan). The advantages of these areas are high average velocity wind, less storm and stable wind trend. They are the favorable conditions for wind energy development. During the monsoon months, the proportion of south and southeast winds are up to 98% with an average speed of 6 – 7m/s. It means that we are able to build the wind stations with capacity of 3 to 3.5 MW.

In fact, people in Ninh Thuan have also created a number of homemade small wind generators for the purpose of lighting. Both these areas are sparsely populated with hot and dry weather. Moreover, this is the ethnic areas with special difficulties of Vietnam.

Although there are many advantages as mentioned above, but when mentioning wind energy, we need to note a number of unique features to be able to develop it in the most effective way.

The biggest disadvantage of wind energy is the dependence on weather condition and wind regime. Therefore, at the design stage, the wind regime, terrain and type of wind without turbulence flows which badly affect the transmitter should seriously be studied. Moreover, although wind power is becoming more popular but it cannot be used as the main energy. However, the possibility of the combination between wind power and storage hydropower will open up opportunities for Vietnam to develop energy in areas such as Tay Nguyen, which has advantages in both of these kind.

Another noted point is that the wind power stations will cause noise pollution during operation as well as disrupt the natural landscape and could affect the signal of the radio waves. Therefore, when constructing wind power stations, it is needed to calculate reasonable distance to residential areas and tourist resorts in order not to cause negative impacts.

In order to meet the goal of ambitious growth, in the medium term, Vietnam should continue to exploit the traditional energy sources. In the long term, Vietnam needs to develop strategy and roadmap for the development of new energy sources. In this strategy, the economic costs (including internal and external expenses on the environment and society) need to be analyzed carefully, taking into account new developments in technology, as well as reserves and price movements of alternative energy sources. In these new energy sources, wind power has emerged as a worthy choice and therefore need to be fully assessed.

Vietnam has many advantages for the development of wind energy. If Vietnam does not invest in research and development of wind power will be a huge waste because the risk of power shortage is always permanent, affecting economic growth and national competitiveness. Meanwhile, the current national strategy for power seems only interested in hydropower and nuclear power – the energy sources with huge initial investment and many hidden risks on both environment and society.

In the world, the development of wind power is a major trend, showing the highest growth rate compared with other energy sources. Unlike nuclear power which needs a complicated technical process and strict supervision, the construction and installation of wind power does not require such rigorous processes. With the experiences of successful development of wind power in India, China, Philippines and the geographical advantages of Vietnam, Vietnam can completely develop wind power and contributing to the overall development of the economy.

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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