Because it's of interest to me, and to a lot of people, and I looked into it recently, I'm going to discuss a topic of law that is in an area of practice outside of Indochine Counsel's expertise. I want to talk about the requirements to become a naturalized Vietnamese citizen. Not only is it [...]
Formalities. Time consuming, seemingly needless, but so very important. When I was in Laos, I worked for an investment fund that offered some private parties loans. I was in charge of securing those loans. I did my due diligence, researched the secured transaction law--which was fairly simple--and drafted sufficient contracts to protect the fund. But [...]
A while ago I was working with another lawyer on an M&A deal. The target company was a Vietnamese entity that operated in a restricted sector. This meant that foreign ownership was limited. Our client was a foreign entity that had a Business Cooperation Contract with the Vietnamese entity that stated that the foreign entity [...]
I try not to let my personal life interfere with this blog too much, though I do on occasion tell personal stories. I'm currently sitting in Laos Plaza Hotel in Vientiane, Laos, and wondering at the difference between Vietnam and Laos. While there is indeed some new construction here in Vientiane, it is nothing like [...]
Last week Vinfast, a subsidiary of Vinagroup, began manufacturing the Vinfast line of automobiles. The line begins with a standard hatchback and a sedan, two vehicles that are priced around 17,000USD. This is cool. For a couple of reasons is this cool. First, car purchases in Vietnam are up 22% year on year since 2018. [...]
According to Vietnam News, here, the Ministry of Finance has proposed a change in the current corporate income tax structure for small and medium sized businesses with an even greater exception for what it considers micro businesses. The cut would be from the regular 20% which is paid by all enterprises to 15-17% depending on [...]
In a story reported by VN Express here, Shop & Go, a chain of nearly a hundred convenience stores in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi was sold to Vingroup for $1. Shop & Go was a Singaporean enterprise that was one of the first in the convenience store space in Vietnam. Unfortunately, Shop & [...]
Joint Ventures in Vietnam have changed over the years. When I first began working in Vietnam, the joint venture was all the rage. Not only was it a way for foreign investors to hook up with local talent and entrepreneurs, but it was also a way to appease the WTO agreements of Vietnam's accession. Most [...]
i remember reading a law blog years ago that discussed the importance of getting a business visa if you were indeed going to be conducting business in a country. This remains good advice, especially in Vietnam. This can be extended to a discussion of work permits, but I’m not going to go into that this [...]
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 [...]