I'm not going to point to specific articles, because I haven't kept track of them, but lately it's becoming apparent that Vietnam is nearing a purge of projects that have failed to realize. It's happened in the past, when a project is on the books for investment development and nothing happens, or very little happens. [...]
The Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was signed by representatives of both parties on Sunday in Hanoi. While this is not the final step for execution of the agreement, this is a major milestone and will, more than likely, lead to adoption by the EU. In this article, here, Nicolas Audier discusses the benefits of [...]
Snow. For the last two days I've been snowbound in my house, unable to go anywhere on the roads, and without my computer. To me, at least at first glance, this appears to be a case of force majeure, an instance where I can claim a lack of liability for breach of contract in writing [...]
Now, I'm going to discuss something that I'm borrowing from Dan Harris over at Chinalawblog, even though I haven't actually read the article. I'm going off of the headline and regardless of what Dan Harris said, I can come up with my own reasons for this distinction. First, don't let a foreign lawyer draft your [...]
Indochine Counsel is proud to announce its contribution to A Guide to Practical E-Discovery in Asia, a multi-jurisdictional guide to E-discovery in the Asian region. Authored by Bryan Tan, Michael Lew, and Benjamin Ang the Guide covers nine jurisdictions in the region from Korea and Japan to Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia. The Vietnam chapter is [...]
This year we are all gathered in Ho Chi Minh City, to hear and share what is affecting ASEAN in terms of disruptive technologies and innovations. We have lined up several speakers who are experts in their fields to share their insights with us. The world is changing very quickly and we as lawyers, accountants, [...]
It seems that recently, the Government has updated the rules for the creation of Commercial Arbitration Centers in Vietnam. While this seems like an effort to encourage dispute resolution within the country, it also creates a schism of capabilities. Where China has one or two main centers and several ad hoc arbitrators, they do not [...]
This week we lost two great people: Aretha Franklin and Kofi Annan. One was a singer, one of the greatest singers recorded since recordings became available, the other was president of the United Natioms. I could talk a blue streak about Aretha. How her music brought soul to life, how she was direct and emotive [...]
Face. Face it, you have to deal with Face if you're working in Asia or in Vietnam. It's part of the entire Asian mindset, though in Vietnam it's slightly diluted thanks to the presence of Confucianism. What is Face? It's a combination of relationships, perception, and behavior. It's something that makes machismo seem benign. Almost [...]
To interrupt your regularly scheduled program, here's a bit of news that's both interesting and important. On 5 April 2018, a host of public companies, assisted by international non-governmental organizations, launched the Vietnam Institute of Directors ("VID"). The VID is designed to provide instruction to CEOs and directors of publicly traded companies. The instruction will [...]