Lotte Wants to Open 60 Supermarkets in Vietnam

 

Vietnam’s retail market has the highest growth rate in the region, therefore Lotte expects to grow further through setting up more retail business or M&A activity in Vietnam.

South Korea is the largest investor in Vietnam with over 4,000 enterprises, total investment in Vietnam as of July 2015 is 32.8 billion USD.

Among South Korean firms investing in Vietnam, Lotte Mart is one of the corporations with the most powerful investment force and they are leading in a number of areas with the models of retail, hotel, cinema…

Mr. Hong Won Sik, CEO of Lotte Mart Vietnam said that Vietnam’s retail market has the highest growth rate in the region, therefore Lotte wants to invest more. The target is to open 60 supermarkets till 2020 and now they have opened 11 supermarkets in Vietnam.

Some of the current Lotte shopping centers have made a big impression on Vietnam consumers and the investment from Lottle makes it to be one of the biggest players on the retail landscape in Vietnam.

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

Readmore: http://www.antconsult.vn/foreign-investor-in-vietnam/lotte-wants-to-open-60-supermarkets-in-vietnam.html

Read More

Vietnam Supports Australian Enterprises Investing and Setting-up Business in Vietnam

During an official visit to Australia, in the morning of March 17th (local time), in Sydney, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and high-level delegation to the Government of Vietnam had the dialogue with the businesses of Vietnam and Australia’s on the development of Vietnam’s economy as well as the opportunities, prospects for cooperation between the two countries.

The dialogue of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has attracted the participation of hundreds of large enterprises of Vietnam and Australia in the areas of banking, finance, energy, oil and gas, mining. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has directly answered many questions of the businesses, Australian investors relating to prospects, opportunities to promote and enhance the intrinsic comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and Australia.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has generalized the development of Vietnam’s economy from an underdeveloped country with a closed economy and until now Vietnam has become a middle-income country with a dynamic economy, enter into the regional economy and the world’s.

Vietnam achieved GDP growth of nearly 6% in 2014. Until now, registered aboard direct investment capital is up to nearly $ 300 billion, with nearly 18,000 projects from more than 100 countries and territories. Currently, there are over 100 leading corporations investing and set-up company in Vietnam.

The Prime Minister stressed: “To attract more powerful, more efficient foreign investment, the Government of Vietnam will continue to fulfill its smooth operation and economic institutions in Vietnam market, compete equally between domestic firms and foreign firms as committed international integration of Vietnam.

Vietnam confirms continuing international economic integration deeper through the full implementation of its commitments in the WTO and bilateral free trade agreements as well as other multilateral ones. Currently we are implementing 8 free trade agreements and negotiations and will continue to expand the market, open market with other free trade agreements, especially the new generation FTA with high requirements to create competitive business environment in the ASEAN region and create a legal framework consistent with international business practice in the market of Vietnam … “

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung also said that Vietnam is focusing on the three breakthrough strategies to facilitate the attraction of investment and development, business and promote economic development, which is perfect institutional market economy as well as investment in infrastructure development and training human resources, especially human resources quality.

Vietnam also continues to ensure political and social stability and protects the legitimate rights and legality of investors, including domestic and foreign; and continue to improve the rule of law, ensure and promote strong democratic liberties of the people, both economically and politically.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has listened and directly answered many of the questions of businesses, Australian investors relating to prospects, opportunities to promote and strengthen comprehensive partnerships between Vietnam and Australia especially to promote cooperation in the field of competitive advantage, such as mining, energy, chemicals, agriculture, finance, banking, education and high quality services.

Government of Vietnam also supports Australian businesses involved in the process of restructuring the economy of Vietnam, especially in the strong field of Australia such as energy, telecommunications infrastructure, education – training, agricultural business and finance.

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

Readmore: http://www.antconsult.vn/news/vietnam-supports-australian-enterprises-investing-and-setting-up-business-in-vietnam.html

Read More

Vietnam is Increasingly Attracting Capital from the US

 

Vietnam is taking every opportunity to grow its economy and improve the living standard. This is not a vain dream since Vietnam has young and plentiful work force. That is why multinational companies wish to come and set up company in Vietnam.

The year 2015 marked the 40 years since the war end and the 20 years of normalized the relationship between Vietnam and the US. Vietnam began the process of innovation since 1986 but not until 1995, foreign investment in Vietnam began to flow in when the Government established formal diplomatic relations with the United States and joined the National Association of the South East Asia (ASEAN).

In recent years, foreign investment in Vietnam has accelerated. The Korean company is particularly excited with this market. Samsung Electronics is operating and building three plants at three locations – Ho Chi Minh City, Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh. In total, this giant electronic corporation has poured more than USD 10 billion in Vietnam.

Vietnam is also expected soon to welcome a “wave” of investment from the US. The Procter & Gamble (P&G) – a consumer goods manufacturer is building a factory in Binh Duong with the cost of 100 million USD. The plant will produce Gillette razors.

Since starting operations in Vietnam in 2008, Intel is also pouring money into this market. This semiconductor giant is planning to manufacture in Vietnam the most of advanced processor for personal computers in the future.

Moreover, other big names come from the US that are expanding operations in Vietnam are Starbucks and McDonald’s. They opened their first store here in December 2013 and February 2014.

There are a number of factors that make foreign investment in Vietnam explode. One of the most important reasons is the low labor cost. Labor cost hikes in China are the reason why many multinational manufacturers turned their attention to Vietnam where the cost is 50% cheaper. Besides, the purchasing power of Vietnam consumer is increasing, inflation has been curbed and many easing regulations to boost growth are also the reason why continuous investments are poured tin..

However, the biggest attraction for most foreign investors is the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) about free trade in which Vietnam is one of 12 countries that participate in negotiations. In mid of this year, General Secretary of Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong will visit the United States. TPP agreement will be the main topic of the conversation with the US officials. If the two countries can reach an agreement, the US will become even more important partner of Vietnam’s economy in the future.

In a press conference in HCM city in January 2015, US Ambassador in Vietnam – Mr. Ted Osius was upbeat about the impact of the TPP to Vietnam economy and the US investment here. TPP agreement “will allow the US to become the number one investor and trading partner of Vietnam” he said.

In about 4.5 million Vietnamese living overseas, about 2 million are living in the US. In particular, many people have made a name in the business world. They are Mr. Henry Nguyen – who brought McDonald’s to Vietnam and Mr. David Thai – founder of Highlands coffee chain.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, approximately 180,000 companies in the United States are owned by Vietnamese, achieved a total revenue of 20 billion USD. Strengthening ties between the two countries could stimulate greater cash flow stream across the Pacific.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam is estimated to spend 500 billion USD in over 10 years to develop the infrastructure necessary for sustainable growth. However, Vietnam can only able to meet 40% of the above figure, through the Government budget, ODA and private capitals.

That is why the Government wants to attract FDI. The Vietnam Government has set a target to create an industrial economy by 2020. Six priority areas are agriculture, forestry and fisheries processing, agricultural machinery, electronics, shipbuilding, environmental and energy saving, automobile production.

The transition from growth based on FDI into industrial-based growth can be rather difficult. However, Vietnam has shown it is serious and is still on track.

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

Readmore: http://www.antconsult.vn/news/vietnam-is-increasingly-attracting-capital-from-the-us.html

Read More

RCEP Helps Vietnam Accelerate Investment Attraction | ANT Consulting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read More

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

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

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

A project dossier for establishing company in Vietnam shall comprise:

- Registration/Request for issuance of Investment Certificate;

- A report on financial capability of the investor;

- Draft of the company’s charter;

- List of members of company;

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other documents required by Vietnam law.

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

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

Read More

10 Questions to Ask Before Setting up Company in Vietnam | ANT Lawyers

 Foreigners are encouraged to make investment in Vietnam through direct investment by Setting up company in Vietnam.

However there are restrictions in some cases in regard to investment capital, investment area, special licenses required. The investor is suggested to consult with a law firms in Vietnam for advice and service offering.

Before setting up business in Vietnam, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Which business should I invest in Vietnam?

There are non-conditional investment areas and conditional investment areas. Establishing company in the non-conditional investment areas are more simple than in conditional investment areas. Investment in IT services, manufacturing, management consulting, business promotion are a few samples of non-conditional investment areas. Example of conditional investment areas are real estate, trading, travel agencies, freight forwarding… which are more complicated with investment conditions. Investment conditions might also be changed over the time depending on the WTO commitments which Vietnam enters.

2. What should I name the business in Vietnam?

The company in Vietnam has to have Vietnamese name, and English name. The company could also have abbreviated name. The name of the company in Vietnam indicates the structure of the company, the business lines, and the name that differentiate against other businesses. For instance, the company could be named Alpha consulting limited liability company.

3. Where should I register the address of the business in Vietnam?

Not every address could be used to register a company. The address has to be an address of a house with leasing agreement or office building which owner has license to operate as office building.

4. What is the legal structure of the company?

Depending on the number of investor contributing capital, company could be set-up as one member limited liability company or two ore more member limited liability company or joint stocks company.

5. How much capital is required to set-up a company in Vietnam?

The investment amount depends on the business plan and is subject to the approval of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment evaluating application dossier. In some business areas like real estate, banking and finance, minimum capital is required. In general for non-conditional investment area, the law does not specify the minimum capital to establish a company in Vietnam however the State agencies that evaluate investment plan could reject the investment project which are not feasible. Bank statement in foreign banks could be used to prove sufficient fund of investment capital.

6. Whom will be legal representative and work permit in Vietnam?

The investor will need to appoint the legal representative in Vietnam to oversee the business performance and take legal responsibility in Vietnam. If the legal representative is an expatriate, whom is a capital contributing member or owner of a limited liability company or a member of the Board of Management of a shareholding company which is registered to operate in Vietnam, he or she will be exempted from work permit in Vietnam. Otherwise, he or she will need to have a work permit to work in Vietnam legally. The work permit holder would then apply for temporary residence card to live in Vietnam as long as the work permit allows.

7. How long does it take to set-up a company in Vietnam?

It depends on what type, scale, and whether or not conditions are required. For a simple minimum capital without conditions to set-up, it would take 30 working days. For setting up company in conditional investment areas i.e. trading company in Vietnam, time would be lengthen due to the involvement of a number of State agencies approving the investment project and it would take 60 working days. For setting up company in other investments in areas requiring conditions to meet, time might be taken depending on the type of conditions and the government agencies evaluating the conditions of investment.

8. Whom will be granting the investment license in Vietnam?

For most of the investment projects, the provincial state agencies with the approval of the Department of Planning and Investment (DPI) will be granting the Investment Certificate in Vietnam. However, depending on the type, scale, and whether or not conditions are required, other Vietnam State agencies might be involved. For the case of trading company, ministry of trade and commerce, ministry of finance, provincial people’s committee will be reviewing the investment application dossier as well.

9. What are the tax liability in Vietnam?

Major taxes in Vietnam are corporate income tax, import and export tax, value added tax, and personal income tax in Vietnam. In some special areas, there are other taxes. The corporate income tax is currently at 22% and will reduce to 20% beginning 2016. Export is mostly encouraged as such the export tax is 0 however there are special cases when export tax is larger than 0. Import tax varies according to tariff. Value added tax is mostly at 10% however in some cases, VAT could be 5% or 0%. Personal Income tax varies according to income level and is applicable from VND 9,000,000 above.

10. What are mandatory reports submissions requirement in Vietnam?

Companies are required to keep accounting books, prepare and submit tax reports on monthly, quarterly and annually. Foreign companies are also required to have financial audit taken before the financial year end. The financial year in Vietnam is from January to December and the deadline to submit financial report is March 30th for the previous year. Other reports are required to be submitted at other State agencies.

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

Read More

What Important Step-by-Step Guide to Establish Company in Vietnam? | ANT Lawyers

 When foreign investors invest in Vietnam, they could establish company in Vietnam. Foreign investors have the right to choose the appropriate forms of enterprise such as a limited liability company, joint stock company, etc. with specific steps are as follows:

Step 1: Register the investment project

Investors submit an investment project registration file to the Business Registration office of the province or city or the management board of an industrial zone, an export processing zone or a high-tech zone for the approval of an investment project during the period within 15 days (without time for clarification).

Step 2: Apply for Certificate of investment registration

After approval of the investment project, investors submit a valid record to the Department of Planning and Investment within 10 days to apply for a business registration certificate.

Step 3: Apply for the certificate of business registration

After obtaining the business registration certificate, the investor shall submit the application for enterprise registration certificate to the enterprise registration office within 3 days.

Step 4: Publish the content of the business registration

After being granted the certificate of enterprise registration, the investor shall disclose information about the enterprise on the national enterprise registration portal within 30 days, including the following information:

i, Business lines;

ii, List of founding shareholders and shareholders being foreign investors for joint-stock companies.

Step 5: Registered business stamp

The enterprise has the right to decide on the form, quantity and contents of the stamp of the enterprise. The content of the stamp must show the following information:

– Company’s name;

– Business code.

After receiving the legal entity stamp and before using the business stamp, the enterprise must send a notice on the stamp of the enterprise to the business registration office for publication in the National Information Portal on the business registration.

Step 6: Notice of use of stamp:

After having stamp made, investors submit notices on use of stamp forms to the Investment registration agency.After receiving the record, the Investment registration agency issues a receipt for the enterprise, publishes the notice of the enterprise on the National Business Information Portal and issues a notice of the posting, stamp samples of enterprises, branches and representative offices for enterprises.

Step 7: Open bank account:

Investors need to open two types of bank accounts, namely the investment capital account to receive the investment amount and the transaction account for conducting daily transaction in Vietnam.

Step 8: The post licensing procedures:

For the conditional business lines:

Investors investing in conditional businesses lines as regulated in Appendix 4 of the Investment Law 2014 must apply certificate of business qualification, practicing certificates, professional liability insurance, legal capital requirements, etc. before conducting business in Vietnam.

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

Read More

What Foreign Investors Should Know When Setting up company in Vietnam in 2022?

In the period of global economic integration, especially Post-Covid-19 era, Vietnam – a developing country is considered one of the countries with potential markets that foreign investors choose to establish the business here taking advantage of the government policy to promote the economy i.e. “new normal” adaption living with Covid-19, quick opening of border allowing tourists to visit Vietnam since Apr 2022, tax reduction, public investment increase…

Whom can set up business in Vietnam?

First, the objects allowed to establish and manage enterprises in Vietnam are all organizations and individuals who are not in the following cases: (i) Minors; people with limited legal capacity; incapacitated people; people having difficulties controlling their behaviors; organizations that are not juridical persons; (ii) People who are facing criminal prosecution, kept in temporary detention, serving an imprisonment sentence, serving an administrative penalty in a correctional institution or rehabilitation center, has limited legal capacity or is incapacitated, is not able to control his/her own behaviors, is banned by the court from holding certain positions or doing certain works; other cases prescribed by the Law on Bankruptcy and the Anti-corruption Law. At the same time, individuals with foreign nationality implementing business investment activities in Vietnam are considered foreign investors. The implementation of investment forms; the scope of operation as well as related procedures must meet the conditions under the Investment Law; related legal documents; other conditions of international treaties that Vietnam is a member.

How to invest and set up business in Vietnam?

Second, foreigners, foreign investors must explore legal forms of investment in Vietnam including: (i) Investing in establishing economic organizations; (ii) Invest in capital contribution, share purchase and purchase capital; (iii) Implementing investment project; (iv) Investment in the form of BCC contract; (v) Forms of investment and new economic organizations according to the Government’s regulations. They need to consider projects planning to invest in Vietnam in case of requesting approval of investment policy of 2020 Investment Law. The investment project of foreign investors is required to carry out procedures for granting investment registration certificates. If the case must be proposed to approve the investment policy, they must prepare dossiers and carry out procedures to request approval of investment policies. When completing the procedure, they will be granted a written decision on investment policy and investment registration certificates. If not falling in the case of approval of investment policy, foreign investors conduct procedures for applying for investment registration certificates.

What documents required to set up company in Vietnam?

Third, after being granted a certificate of foreign investment registration, foreign investors shall continue the procedures for enterprise registration. Vietnam laws do not have to limit the type of enterprise to foreign investors, hence investors can choose: One member limited liability Company; Two-member limited liability companies or more; Joint stock company; Partnerships. Each type of business has different advantages and disadvantages, and foreign investors should base on the purpose and investment scale to choose the type of suitable form of investment. In addition, the investment under the conditional business lines need to fully meet the conditions according to the provisions of law. Depending on the type of business, there will be the document requirements that need to register accordingly. And most importantly, foreign investors must prepare necessary conditions and sufficient conditions (validated documents for use in Vietnam, business name, head office address, business line, charter capital, legal representative,…) attached to the understanding and implementation of the order and procedures when they want to establish a certain type of enterprise in accordance with the Enterprise Law 2020.

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

Read More