Why Investors Should Set-up Business in Phu Quoc? | ANT Lawyers

The improvement in infrastructure system along with the preferential policies have stimulated investors to come to Phu Quoc to set-up company and do business.

Phu Quoc, an island in Kien Giang of Vietnam is in the top of three islands having tourism potential in Southeast Asia comparable to Phuket in Thailand and Bali in Indonesia. Phu Quoc has become a magnet for attracting huge investment flows from foreign investors in the area of real estate, entertainment, casinos, restaurant or food and beverage service business.

Phu Quoc has temperate weather throughout the year. There are also fresh and friendly forest – sea ecology and the modern transport system on the island with international airport and international hospital. Moreover, many infrastructure projects and international schools are under construction, which are necessary and favorable conditions to invite and attract investors to the Pearl Island for doing business.

Capital inflows to Phu Quoc have really exploded after the “knots” in investment were removed. The new airport went into operation that can welcome larger aircraft and serve more flights, in which there are more international direct flights from China, Singapore, Russia and Cambodia. The 51km long radial route on the island has been basically completed; the road around the island and the branch roads are also being deployed. The power grid was pulled from the mainland to the island, replacing the very high cost gasoline power in the past.

The real estate and tourism consultants all agree that Phu Quoc fully convergent elements of an attractive beach for tourist with year-round sunshine, many beautiful beaches such as Long Beach, Truong Beach, Khem Beach and immense virgin forest. Moreover, Phu Quoc has a strategic location with just 1-2 hours flight to the key tourism markets in Southeast Asia.

Both investment and tourism in Phu Quoc have entered the acceleration phase. By the end of July 2015, Phu Quoc has attracted nearly 200 investment projects, including 136 projects that are being implemented in the area of over 5,100 ha with total registered capitals of 6.5 billion USD. Just one part of those projects become reality then it will make Phu Quoc to become a leading tourist destination in Vietnam, ahead of Da Nang and Nha Trang, competing with the top destinations in the area as Phuket and Bali.

Some of the largest Vietnam corporations such as Vingroup, Sun Group, CEO Group, BIM Group are implementing the huge projects that could alter the appearance of the island. In which the giant in real estate sector – Vingroup has invested projects as: Vinpearl Resort on an area of 300 ha in Long Beach, the combining of golf course and safari zoo on an area of more than 2,000 ha, and the 80 ha commercial complex.

The improvement in infrastructure system along with the preferential business and legal environments i.e. favourable land rental rates, corporate income tax, exemption of visa for foreign tourists make Phu Quoc island of Kien Giang, Vietnam a new attractive place for investment.

ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam could offer service to set-up company in Phu Quoc through its affiliate office. We assist clients needing legal service in obtaining investment certificate, business registration, or other licensing procedures in Phu Quoc, Kien Giang Province, Vietnam.

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Overview on Cosmetics Regulations in Vietnam | ANT Lawyers

Cosmetics are areas of highly regulated in Vietnam as they apply on human and could create health concern. Hence, cosmetics imported into Vietnam have to be applied special procedures to ensure safety. Cosmetics regulations in Vietnam would lay out provisions that importers and manufacturers to follow.

To carry out the Combination Convention in the cosmetic management which has been signed by countries are member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on September 2nd, 2003 (commonly called ASEAN Cosmetic Convention), the Ministry of Health of Vietnam issued Circular 06/2011/TT-BYT on Cosmetic Management.

The Circular dated January 25th, 2011 regulating the management of cosmetic products manufactured in the country, as well as cosmetics imported for circular in Vietnam. Besides, the cosmetic regulations is also provided in related provisions.

According to the Vietnam cosmetic regulations, cosmetic product must be construed as a substance or a preparation which is used for touch with outside parts of human body (skin, hair system, finger nails, toenails, lip, and outside reproduction organ) or teeth and mouth mucous membrane with main purpose in order to cleanse, aromatize, change the outward characteristics, form, adjust body’s smell, safeguard body, or maintain the human body in good condition. In addition to the products being grouped as cosmetic products such as: creams, emulsion, lotions, gels and oils for skin (group 1); tinted bases (group 2); toilet soaps, deodorant soaps (group 3); … some products are not classified as cosmetic.

Under Vietnam law, a cosmetic product made in Vietnam or imported into Vietnam must go through procedure of proclamation before being is sold on the market. In particular, organizations or individuals circulating the cosmetic products on the market have to be responsible for obtaining permissions through cosmetic product proclamation from authority agencies as well as responsible for safety, effectiveness, and quality of product.

For exporting cosmetic, the exporter needs to obtain the Certificate of Free Sale (CFS) as regulated. CFS is issued when such domestic cosmetic is issued the cosmetic product proclamation receipt number by competent state management agency. For importing cosmetic, enterprises are only allowed to import the cosmetic into Vietnam when presenting to the Customs agency the valid receipt number of cosmetic product proclamation report which has been issued by the Medicine Management Department – the Health Ministry. However, Vietnam law also provide import of cosmetic in some special situations which are not obligated to implement the cosmetic product proclamation as the following:

– Organization or individual who imports cosmetic in order to study and experiment;

– The organizations, individuals who receive cosmetic as gifts;

– The organizations, individuals who import cosmetic for displaying at fair, gallery and other temporary import for re-export situations.

For manufacturing cosmetic, the cosmetic regulations require the organizations which manufacture the cosmetic must deploy to apply and satisfy principles, the “cosmetic good manufacturing practice” standard of the Asian Southeast Association Nations (CGMP-ASEAN).

Besides, compliance with the other requirements such as labeling, safety of ingredients, cosmetic advertising is also required.

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Hotel Business in Danang, Great Opportunity for Investors | ANT Consulting

According to the Department of Tourism of Danang City, the number of tourists to Da Nang in the first 6 months of 2018 reached 4 million visitors including domestic and international ones. Currently, the city has more than 700 accommodation establishments with more than 32,000 rooms and continues to increase rapidly to meet the demand of the tourists in the future.

The number of accommodation establishments in Danang has increased by at least 10%/year to meet the growing demand of tourists. Small-scale hotels (1-2 stars), spontaneously do not get the desired profit, due to the lack of management and facilities to meet the requirements of customers. However, the medium and large accommodation (3-5 stars) is extremely attractive to tourists, because of the convenience, as well as the appropriate management, along with the services that cater to the needs of the client’s holiday, even in the season which is not the tourist season these hotels are also out of rooms.

Today, with many policies of the city to attract investment in Da Nang to set up company and business destination and building Danang to become the tourist attraction of the country, the hotel business has become a great opportunity to develop. However, in order to attract profits in the hotel business, investors need to understand the demands of customers, select the scale and how to manage effectively. In addition, now with many methods of advertising, Internet booking support, hotel management software, … will make business easier, customers and hotels can meet easily, therefore they will bring profits in the business.

At the same time, many investors are doing business in the form of condotel, combined staying with leasing, this will help investors not only make a profit in investing in the resort hotel sector but also help investors or their friends and relatives of their rest in their own room when traveling in Danang.

For many foreign investors, investing in the hotel in Da Nang is a suitable option to seek profits. Taking the opportunity and investment at this time will help investors build the reputation for customers and bring long-term benefits in the future.

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Quang Nam promotes and attracts foreign investment in 2021| ANT Consulting

Earlier in 2021, the representative of Quang Nam province proposed the province’s investment promotion program in 2021. Accordingly, the objective of Quang Nam province is to promote investment promotion in the following fields: supporting industries; agro-forestry-fishery processing industry, building materials; agricultural production towards high efficiency; field of investment, construction and business of infrastructure of industrial zones, industrial zones, airport infrastructure, seaports, urban transport infrastructure.

In the industrial structure, focus on investment promotion projects in supporting industries for mechanical engineering, automobiles, supporting industries for electricity, electronics and textiles – footwear, processing of products which use the local material.

The representative of Quang Nam province committed to promoting the improvement of the investment environment, administrative reform, and improving the efficiency of investment promotion. Quang Nam recognized the importance of investment promotion on the spot through increasing support for projects that have been licensed for investment; directly working with investors to determine the portfolio of projects to expand production and business in accordance with the capacity of the investor and the potential and strength of the province. The province also focuses on dialogue activities with businesses and investors to promptly solve difficulties, problems, proposals and recommendations of investors.

However, Quang Nam will resolutely refuse to attract projects with high risk of causing environmental pollution, wasteful exploitation of resources, outdated technology, etc.

In addition, Quang Nam will cooperate with research institutes, domestic and foreign investment consulting companies to conduct research activities, evaluate investment potentials and trends of investment partners. foreign countries such as Japan, Korea, the US, Europe… and large domestic enterprises and investors. Also, the province intends to organize overseas investment promotion in the target markets of the following countries: Japan, Korea, Russia, Dubai, Hong Kong, Taiwan… Continue to review, update and build the list project calling for investment in Quang Nam province. In particular, it will review the status of projects that have been implemented, projects that have had an investor or issued an investment policy but are slow to implement, projects that have had their investment registration certificates revoked, collected land recovery … to avoid the situation of “hanging” projects, attracting and calling for qualified investors to implement the project.

According to statistics from the Department of Planning and Investment of Quang Nam province, in 2020, the province has granted 50 new domestic projects with a total investment of VND 8,140 billion. Regarding foreign investment projects (FDI), in 2020, Quang Nam province has granted 7 new foreign investment projects, with a total registered investment capital of more than USD 33 million by investors from the following countries: Korea, China, Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong, France, Germany.

The total number of valid projects in the province so far is 197 projects with a total investment of more than USD 5.93 billion.With efforts to attract FDI, Quang Nam hopes to be an investment destination for domestic and foreign investors to set up companies, to contribute to the province’s socio-economic development and to maximize profits for investors. fourth in the future.

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Vietnam attracts Japanese Investors | ANT Consulting

During the volatility of the Covid-19 pandemic, the decision to invest in Vietnam became more and more interested by Japanese investors.

Since 10 years ago, many Japanese enterprises have considered Vietnam as a promising foreign investment market after China. However, the outbreak of Covid-19 has left serious consequences for the Chinese economy, when a series of the world’s no.1 supply chains in this country were broken. Many foreign investors have chosen ASEAN, including Vietnam to invest, where there is a safe political system and a stable health system, and a favorable legal corridor.

According to the report of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, as of mid-June this year, the total foreign investment capital in Vietnam reached 15.67 billion USD. Japan ranks 4th among countries with total registered capital to invest in Vietnam market. In the investment scenarios in Vietnam, finding local businesses becomes a short but effective step. Foreign investors choose potential businesses to invest in or buy back businesses. In which, Saizo is a typical example.

Saizo Japan is a prestigious brand in Japan, famous for its comprehensive range of health care products. During the scientific cooperation at the Center for Scientific Research of Vietnam, realizing the potential for development from products of natural origin, Saizo Japan planned to invest in chain technology, as well as the application of the Japanese biological science and technology background.

Saizo Japan is a prestigious brand in the country of the sun, famous for its comprehensive range of health care products. During the scientific cooperation at the Center for Scientific Research of Vietnam with Master of Science Nguyen Xuan Phu, realizing the potential for development from products of natural origin, Saizo Japan planned to invest in chain technology, as well as the application of the Japanese biological science and technology.

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Da Nang- Tangier (Morocco) cooperates in economic field | ANT Consulting

On April 14th, 2021, representatives of Da Nang city had an online meeting with representatives of Tangier city (Morocco) on the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries (1961-2021).

At the meeting, representatives of Da Nang city shared the characteristics, potentials and similarities in the field in the development orientation of two cities, by this meeting, the two cities will continue to promote cooperation in a number of areas such as tourism, transportation, and trade. In addition, Da Nang is implementing the goal of both coping with epidemics, socio-economic development, promoting the image of the city as a safe destination for investors and tourists.

Specifically, in the field of tourism, is is encouraged cooperation between tourism and travel businesses. At the same time, parties are suggested to coordinate to organize tourism product survey teams, to connect tourism of the two cities; promote, advertise and introduce the image of Da Nang to Moroccan citizens.

In the transport sector, Da Nang side hopes that Tangier will support Da Nang in calling for businesses and investors of Tangier to invest in a PPP component (public-private partnership) of Lien Chieu port project to cooperate. Besides, invest in logistics centers according to the approved planning and support investment in marinas, inland water ports.

In the field of trade, the side of Da Nang city proposed the two parties to exchange and provide information on trade fair and prestigious events of the city; information on import and export enterprises; trade policy mechanism, etc. for imported goods to support trade connection, promote goods export – import.

Besides, two cities will support enterprises to research, learn and access each other’s goods market; connect businesses in the raw material supply chain to boost exports of potentially complementary products, coordinate in organizing or assisting enterprises to survey the market, creating conditions for all parties to arrange stalls or send goods for introduction at their local product introduction centers.

Bases on the proposals of Da Nang, the representative of Tangier city shared, Tangier is a locality with infrastructure for tourism and transportation. Tangier wants the two cities to concretize ideas of cooperation to connect tourism. At the same time, to create favorable conditions and optimize strengths to develop fields that both cities are interested in. In addition, the representative of Tangier city hopes that apart from the aforementioned fields, the two cities will be able to cooperate in the fields of technology, environment and sustainable development.

By the meeting, the two parties also expected that in the coming time, with the efforts of cooperation and economic development, investors from Tangier will make investment in Da Nang, to apply for investment certificate, to set up company, in order to make the most of the incentives investment in Da Nang, in order to reap its economic benefits.

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The advantages of attracting FDI to Vietnam in 2021 | ANT Consulting

In 2020, due to the impact of the covid-19 epidemic, the global supply chain will be seriously affected. Besides, the effects of the US-China trade war, the shift of production out of China took place quickly. In which, there are four areas that corporations tend to shift to Vietnam to set up company and make investment are information technology and high technology, electronic equipment, e-commerce and logistics, consumer goods, and retail.

Some big global corporations have started recruiting, searching for supply chains, and Vietnam is one of the destinations in the transition to other countries in the region such as Indonesia, Thailand, or Malaysia.

Vietnam, with the advantage of being close to China, is favorable for the movement of investment and machinery. Besides, having policies to attract FDI from Vietnam will make it easier for international investors to transfer investment.

At the same time, Vietnam also participates in many Free Trade Agreements such as CPTPP, EVFTA, etc. that facilitate trade relations with many countries and regions in the world, which will make cooperation more favorable. In addition, the stability in the value of Vietnam currency is also a strong point in attracting international investment.

As the report of a famous industrial real estate brokerage firm, data comparing occupancy rates and rental rates of industrial zones in Southeast Asian countries in the first quarter shows that Vietnam has an average rental rate of 45-50% lower than in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. According to a report in 2019, Vietnam’s labor costs are also lower than that of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, in addition, the labor force in Vietnam is increasingly abundant and the quality of labor is increasing.

Regarding electricity prices, according to EVN, comparing electricity prices in 2019 of Vietnam compared to other countries in the region, according to statistics, shows that electricity prices in Vietnam reach 80% compared to electricity prices of Indonesia; 42.1% of the electricity price of the Philippines and 66.7% of the electricity price of Cambodia.

In addition, with the application of supportive policies such as reduction of corporate income tax, import and export tax, land rental assistance, labor supply, and administrative procedures, Vietnam deserves to become be best investment destination in the world, for international companies to make investment, establish company and obtain investment registration certificate.

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Risk Management Necessity in Vietnam? | ANT Consulting

As Vietnam further integrates into the world business, more investors are eyeing Vietnam for investment. As part of investment due diligence, risk management are always well considered before foreign investors decide to do business with Vietnam partners.

In any parts of the world including Vietnam, risk is an inevitable factor in business operation activities; higher return is always accompanied by higher risks. Coping and managing risk is an integral part of any business in order to make profit and create value to shareholders in import export transaction, investment, or merger and acquisition activities in Vietnam.

However, in our daily consulting practice, we have seen a number of businesses whom do not manage risk effectively and furthermore not fully understand about the risks that they are facing.

Typical risks in developing countries like Vietnam are political risks, policy risks, regulations risks, credit risks, bribery and corruptions, and organized crimes.

On daily transaction in trading, according to Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade, there are situations a number of corporate scams between Vietnam and foreign enterprises are reported. In particular, foreign companies sell goods or provide services to partners in Vietnam and in return the Vietnam partner fail to pay.

On a larger scale in FDI through business formation or M&A origination and execution, businesses that do not improve the risk management process will have to face with a lot of different types of risks: serious financial losses, adversely affecting cash flows and the value of shares, decreasing prestige with customers, employees and investors.

Many business leaders often put heavy emphasis on the business activity, profit, and revenues instead of concentrating more on risk management especially understanding business partners through corporate intelligence investigation, background studying, adverse media search through professional consultants in Vietnam whom understand languages, cultures, legal environment and business practices. Further searches could help foreign investors to understand the company itself, owners, shareholders, members of board of directors of partner companies whom make daily decisions of the business.

In the period that global crisis has been predicted that almost bottom out and start to show signs of recovery, although the recovery process can occur with different speed and characteristics depending on sector and location of the business, the fully preparation of business in all aspects including process and risk management strategy could helps business not falling into the passive and also have more possibilities to take advantage of growth opportunities after the recession.

Recently in Vietnam with the impact of high inflation rate and economic recession caused by the global financial crisis, enterprises are increasingly concern about risk management activities. Many experts believe that an effective and well organized risk management system will help businesses withstand and overcome fluctuations.

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Sustainability in Vietnam | ANT Consulting

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.

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Passing Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam Leads the Region in The PMI Index | ANT Consulting

Vietnam’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has risen from 51.8 in August to 53.3 in September. Nikkei evaluated that the business conditions of the month had a strong improvement, achieving the best speed since April. Accordingly, the health of this field is positive during the past 22 months.

Ranking the countries according to the PMI index of the month, Vietnam continued to lead the overall growth list with the PMI index rising to a high in September. The Philippines advanced to the second position with 50.8 points, although overall growth is still light.       

Indonesia with 50.4 points indicates that business conditions continue to be improved while Thailand has rebounded to 50.3 points after a decline in the previous two months. After the improvement last month, Malaysia (49.9 points) recorded almost unchanged production conditions in September. Meanwhile Singapore (48.6 points) fell into the decline. Myanmar (49.4 points) continue to have weak business conditions, although the speed of decline is light.

Analyzing the reasons for growth in Vietnam, according to the Nikkei, customer demand increased and new orders increase as a result. This is the most significant increase in 5 months. Order growth rate also improved sharply in September.

Thanks for that, inventories also fell for the third month in a row, the biggest drop since July.

Production output of Vietnam has also increased in 11 consecutive months. All three areas of the market have increased production, led by companies producing consumer goods.

In terms of input costs, Nikkei noted that due to rising raw material prices, including raw materials from China, input costs rise significantly, the strongest since May 2011. Therefore, in September 2017, for the first time in 5 months, companies must increase output prices.

According to Mr Andrew Harker from IHS Markit, the company that collected the survey results evaluated that the third quarter ended with a positive note for Vietnamese producers. As a result, manufacturers may continue to grow in the last quarter. Nevertheless, he noted that Vietnam should be cautious as inflationary pressures reappeared.

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