Processing and Manufacturing Industry Attracts Foreign Capital

Although the amount of registered and disbursed FDI capital was lower than the same period in 2019 due to the influence of Covid-19, the reduction has been significantly improved.

 

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The latest report of the Foreign Investment Department (Ministry of Planning and Investment) shows that, as of November 20th 2020, the total newly registered capital, adjusted and contributed capital to buy shares of foreign investors reached 26.43 billion USD, equaling 83.1% compared to the same period in 2019. The realized capital of foreign direct investment projects was estimated at 17.2 billion USD, equaling 97.6% compared to the same period in 2019.

Also according to the report, the processing and manufacturing industry is still the field attracting foreign capital, when there are 12.7 billion USD invested in this field, accounting for 48.2% of total registered investment capital. The field of electricity production and distribution ranked second with total investment capital of over 4.9 billion USD, accounting for 18.7% of total registered investment capital. Followed by the real estate business, wholesale and retail with a total registered capital of nearly 3.8 billion USD and 1.5 billion USD.

In terms of investment partners, Singapore is leading with a total investment of nearly 8.1 billion USD, accounting for 30.6% of total investment in Vietnam; Korea ranked second with a total investment of 3.7 billion USD, accounting for 14% of total investment capital. China ranked third, with a total registered investment capital of 2.4 billion USD, accounting for 9.1% of total investment capital. Followed by Japan, Taiwan, Thailand…

In terms of the number of new projects, Korea ranked first (573 projects); China ranked second (311 projects); Japan ranked third (251 projects); Hong Kong ranked fourth (164 projects)…

Commenting on the foreign investment situation, the Foreign Investment Department assessed that, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, production and business activities were affected, the implemented investment capital of foreign investment projects in 11 months, although decreasing compared to the same period in 2019, but the decrease rate has improved. Many FDI enterprises are gradually recovering, maintaining good production and business activities, creating momentum for faster growth in the last months of 2020.

Considering the strong decline in global investment due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, this result is better than many other countries, demonstrating Vietnam’s attractiveness in the eyes of international investors.

The Foreign Investment Department forecasts that there are still many foreign investors who are interested, confident and want to invest in Vietnam. But due to the influence of Covid-19, the movement of investors, as well as new investment decisions and the expansion of the scale of foreign investment projects, continue to be affected.

 

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Temporary residence card in Vietnam

If a foreigner have been sponsored work permit in Vietnam to work or he/she decides to set up a company in Vietnam, he/she could be granted temporary residence card to live in Vietnam instead of applying and re-newing business or travel visas every three months.

 

We detail here some procedures which help foreigners to prepare for before applying for temporary residence card.

I. Subjects to be granted temporary residence card

-Members of foreign representative agencies and their accompanying relatives (father, mother, wife, husband, children under 18 years old).

-Foreigners who work with the Institute of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the Supreme People’s Court, the ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies attached to the Government and People’s Committees of provinces and cities directly under the Central Government and the Central offices of mass organizations, mass organizations.

-Foreigners who work in projects already approved by competent state agencies licensed in Vietnam.

-Foreigners who work with businesses in Vietnam has the work permit valued more than 01 year.

-Persons on the payroll of foreign representative offices and branches of economic organization, culture and other professional organizations of foreign non-governmental organizations based in Vietnam.

-Foreigners staying in Vietnam for other purposes.

II. Conditions for implementation

+ Time to stay in Vietnam more than 01 year;

+ Valid passport more than 01 year;

III. The composition, the number of records

1) The composition profile, including

-A written request of agencies, organizations and individuals offering, guarantee and propose for temporary residence card;

-01 declaration of information of foreigners who apply for temporary residence, with photos and sealed by the agency or organization: A written request for temporary residence card (Form N7A); a declaration about Foreigners applying for temporary resident card (Form N7B)

-02 3 x4 cm size photographs;

-01 copies of passport, valid visa, immigration cards (bring original for comparison);

-01 copies or photo (bring the original for comparison) proof of purpose to stay in Vietnam.

As the case may file appropriate documents: investment licenses, permits the establishment of enterprises, work permit in Vietnam, certificate of board members and permits the establishment of representative offices, marriage/birth registration.

2) The number of records: 01 (one).

IV. Implementing agencies administrative procedures:

Immigration management Department, Police provinces and cities directly under the Central Government.

V. Implementation time: 05 to 07 days;

VI. Subjects performed:  by organizations and individuals;

We are a law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.

 

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Debt Recovery Service in Vietnam

Debt recovery is always a big problem for businesses and individuals. In order to promote the production process, the process of debt recovery is always one of the concerns with the business leaders.

 

Law firm in Vietnam

One of the the appropriate method is the intervention of law. ANT Lawyers Co., Ltd is a leading legal consultancy in Vietnam, with a team of experienced lawyers and legal experts that have participated and solved many debt recovery cases for businesses and individuals.

We will:

-Study the case to find the legal basis and debt data that should be handled;

-Assess the payment capability of the debtor to creditor;

-Represent the client to exposure debtor to negotiate, persuade and require debt repayment;

-Advice and instruct customer the most beneficial solutions in accordance with the law;

-Implement civil proceedings, economic proceedings or criminal proceedings against law enforcement agencies, depending on the type of entity and the nature of the transactions arising overdue debts;

In case of debt recovery through litigation, we will help customer:

-Draft petition and other papers relating to the recovery of debt;

-Represent client (individuals and organizations) to submit the petition to the Court and the competent authorities to recover the debt as stipulated by law;

-Appoint attorney to participate in protecting the legitimate rights and interests of clients (individuals and organizations) at the Court at all levels;

-Represent client (individuals and organizations) to participate in judgment enforcement

 

 

 

 

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Debt Recovery Service in Vietnam

Debt recovery is always a big problem for businesses and individuals. In order to promote the production process, the process of debt recovery is always one of the concerns with the business leaders.

 

Law firm in Vietnam

One of the the appropriate method is the intervention of law. ANT Lawyers Co., Ltd is a leading legal consultancy in Vietnam, with a team of experienced lawyers and legal experts that have participated and solved many debt recovery cases for businesses and individuals.

We will:

-Study the case to find the legal basis and debt data that should be handled;

-Assess the payment capability of the debtor to creditor;

-Represent the client to exposure debtor to negotiate, persuade and require debt repayment;

-Advice and instruct customer the most beneficial solutions in accordance with the law;

-Implement civil proceedings, economic proceedings or criminal proceedings against law enforcement agencies, depending on the type of entity and the nature of the transactions arising overdue debts;

In case of debt recovery through litigation, we will help customer:

-Draft petition and other papers relating to the recovery of debt;

-Represent client (individuals and organizations) to submit the petition to the Court and the competent authorities to recover the debt as stipulated by law;

-Appoint attorney to participate in protecting the legitimate rights and interests of clients (individuals and organizations) at the Court at all levels;

-Represent client (individuals and organizations) to participate in judgment enforcement

 

 

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Vietnam Marriage and Family Act 2014

The Vietnam Family and Marriage Act 2014 has officially been passed and will take effect from Jan 1st, 2015.  The Vietnam law on Marriage and Family in 2014 has the following notable update:

Same-sex marriage is not banned but not yet officially recognized

The Law on Marriage and Family in 2014 abolishes the regulations that “prohibit marriage between people of the same sex,” but specifically “does not recognize marriages between people of the same sex as stipulated in clause 2 Article 8 “.  Accordingly, people of the same sex can get married but their marriage will not be protected by law when disputes occur.  This is however considered a development in the law taking consideration of the situation in Vietnam.

 

Marriage and family dispute lawyers in Vietnam

Raising the age of marriage

The new law defined marriage age for women from the age of 18 or more for women and men from all 20 years or older. The reason for this change is because if the minimum age of marriage for women is just about to turn 18, the rules are not consistent with the Vietnam Civil Code and the Civil Procedure Code.   According to the Vietnam Civil Code, person under 18 years old is a minor, as such requires the legal representative agreement in civil transactions.  According to the Vietnam Civil Procedure Code, people of at least 18 years old will have full capacity for civil conduct proceedings.

Surrogacy arrangement is accepted

The Vietnam Marriage and Family Law 2014 officially allows surrogacy for humanitarian purposes. The surrogacy is applied only when the adequate conditions for both surrogate mothers and intended parents are met. In particular, the law only allows relatives from husband or wife to be surrogate mother.  This will also be considered as a development in the Vietnam Marriage and Family Law 2014.

Assets division during marriage

Law in developed countries recognize the prenuptial agreement which is signed between people before getting married.  Vietnam law does not consider marriage as a contract.  In the meantime, the current regulations of Vietnam Marriage and Family law are unclear on ownership of common and private assets and properties.  It mainly refers to land issues while other assets such as securities and share ownership in the enterprise are not mentioned, making it difficult to resolve the disputes arisen.  The Law on Marriage and Family 2014 specifically regulates the agreement between people before getting married on the assets and properties. Such agreement must be in writing, notarized or authenticated before marriage. This agreement could be changed during the marriage.

We at ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam provide advice and services on marriage and family laws.  We could be reached at office +84 28 730 86 529 or email ant@antlawyers.vn.

 

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Trade cooperation between Vietnam and Germany and potential future

After 45 years of establishing diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Germany (from 1975 to 2020), Germany and Vietnam have had cooperation programs in many fields such as culture, economics, education, and health. Especially, after the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) came into effect, the commercial cooperation relationship between the two countries has developed.

 

EVFTA is an opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to expand their markets to European countries, including Germany. On the contrary, this is also an opportunity for German businesses to invest in Vietnam to set up company thanks to policies to attract and preferential investment commitments.

Germany is the world’s leading technologically developed country and an integral part of the global supply chain. Germany also has many strict requirements on the quality of goods and the environmental friendliness of products, which requires Vietnam to improve production quality and use environmentally friendly products/materials. With the signing of the EVFTA, Vietnam and Germany will have more favorable conditions for technology exchange and investment, which will help trade cooperation between the two countries more developed.

Before 2014, Vietnamese goods exported to Germany were the least polluted category, including agricultural products, wood products, processed foods, beverages, garments, footwear and glassware. Since 2014, the export of machinery and equipment to Germany began to increase and became the item with the highest export turnover. After EVFTA, Vietnam will increase exports of footwear, textiles and agricultural products such as coffee, tea, pepper and rubber and will import many products related to processing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals.

In addition, in order to improve product quality to meet import criteria into Germany and Europe, Vietnam also attracts foreign investment to develop sustainably economic sectors such as pharmaceuticals and chemicals, in order to create quality products that are qualified for domestic use and import to many countries around the world.

Currently, the number of investment projects of German investors implementing in Vietnam is not high compared to other countries such as Japan, Korea, Singapore, etc. This requires Vietnam to re-examine its strengths and weaknesses in order to meet the investment needs of German investors. The implementation of EVFTA, Investment Law 2020, Enterprise Law 2020 is an opportunity for international investors, including German investors to easily access Vietnam market when expanding their investment.

With many cooperation efforts between Vietnam and Germany in recent years, Vietnam hopes that in the coming years, Vietnam will be the leading destination in investment for German investors and help improve furthermore good relationship between the two countries in the future.

We are a law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529.

 

 

 

 

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Procedure to change birth certificate in Vietnam

How to Change Name on Birth Certificate in Vietnam?

Changing family name, middle name, first name are considered changing civil status.  Due to different reasons that an individual needs to change his/her name or his/her children’s name on the birth certificate. Such changes are civil status changes governed under the Law on Civil status.

 

Change birth certificate in Vietnam

However, not every case of civil status change registration is accepted by the competent authority.

Under the provisions Law on Civil status, individual can change of family name, middle name and first name of individuals in birth registration contents when there are grounds as prescribed by the civil law.

The “legitimate reasons” to change the family name is specified in the Civil Code on the right to change name include:

a) Changing the family name of a natural child from biological father’s to biological mother’s or vice versa;

b) Changing the family name of an adopted child from biological father’s or mother’s to adoptive father’s or mother’s at the request of the adoptive parents;

c) If a person ceases to be an adopted child and such person or his/her biological father or mother request to reclaim the family name which is given by the biological father or mother;

d) Changing the family name of a person whose biological parents have been identified upon the request on that father or mother or such person;

e) Changing the family name of a lost person who has discovered the origin of his/her bloodline;

f) Changing the family name of a person to his/her spouse’s in the marriage and family relations involving foreign elements in accordance with law of the country in which the foreign spouse is a citizen or retrieves his/her family name before the change;

g) Changing the family names of children upon the change of family names of their father’s or mother’s;

h) Other cases prescribed in by law on civil status affairs.

An individual has the right to request a competent authority to recognize the change of a given name in any of the following cases:

a) Where it is so requested by the person who has a given name which causes confusion or has an adverse effect on his/her feelings or on his/her honor, legitimate rights and interests;

b) Where the adoptive father or mother of the person wishes to change the given name of their adopted child; of if a person ceases to be an adopted child and such person or his/her biological father or mother request to reclaim the given name which is given by the biological father or mother;

c) Changing the given name of a person whose biological parents have been identified upon the request on that father or mother or such person;

d) Changing the given name of a lost person who has discovered the origin of his/her bloodline;

e) Change the given name of a person to his/her spouse’s in the marriage and family relations involving foreign elements in accordance with law of the country in which the foreign spouse is a citizen retrieves his/her family name before the change;

f) Changing of given name of a person whose gender identity is re-determined or a transgender person;

g) Other cases prescribed in by law on civil status affairs.

The changing of names for the person from nine years old must have the consent of that person. The changing of names of individuals does not affect and terminate the rights and civil obligations established under their old name.

Thus, if the use of one’s first name, last name and middle name cause confusion, affecting the family love, honor, rights and lawful interests, causing difficulties in the transaction, he/she may conduct the name changing.

Procedures to change name will be performed at the District People’s Committee where the person has registered the birth.

Dossier includes:

–Declaration (in the prescribed form);

–Presenting the original birth certificate of the person who need for change names and civil status;

–The relevant documents as a basis for the change or correction of civic status.

ANT Lawyers- Law firm in Vietnam has experience in civil and family matters to advice clients whom are interested for such legal service in Vietnam. We assist our clients in the process of reviewing agreements, procedures and concerned matters in civil and family.

 

 

 

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Scope of Chapter 9 – Investment in CPTPP Agreement

CPTPP is a new-generation FTA covering many aspects in addition to the traditional areas such as trade of goods, services. Non-traditional areas such as labor, environment, intellectual property, etc. all have significant commitments and are specified in each chapter. Enterprises of state member must meet certain conditions applicable to each area to enjoy respective benefits. As for foreign investment, the host country has the right to refuse to apply benefits to foreign investors or its investment if they do not meet the requirements of the CPTPP.

 

Law Firm in Vietnam

For avoidance of doubt, investment means every asset that an investor owns or controls, directly or indirectly, that has the characteristics of an investment, including such characteristics as the commitment of capital or other resources, the expectation of gain or profit, or the assumption of risk. Forms that an investment may take include: enterprise, forms of equity participation in an enterprise, debt instruments and loans, intellectual property rights, etc. Requirements for enjoying foreign investment benefits are provided indirectly in the way of permitting State Members deny of benefits under some circumstances as stipulated in Article 9.15:

“Article 9.15: Denial of Benefits

1.A Party may deny the benefits of this Chapter to an investor of another Party that is an enterprise of that other Party and to investments of that investor if the enterprise:

(a) is owned or controlled by a person of a non-Party or of the denying Party; and

(b) has no substantial business activities in the territory of any Party other than the denying Party.

2.A Party may deny the benefits of this Chapter to an investor of another Party that is an enterprise of that other Party and to investments of that investor if persons of a non-Party own or control the enterprise and the denying Party adopts or maintains measures with respect to the non-Party or a person of the non-Party that prohibit transactions with the enterprise or that would be violated or circumvented if the benefits of this Chapter were accorded to the enterprise or to its investments.”

Most commitments in the Investment Chapter apply to only investors and its investment that come from CPTPP Member States. However, Vietnam may deny the benefits to an investor of State Member that is an enterprise and to investments of that investor if the enterprise:

-Is owned or controlled by an individual or enterprise of a Non- State Member.

-Is owned or controlled by an individual or enterprise of Vietnam.

-Has no substantial business activities in the territory of any State Member other than Vietnam.

By the above permitted denial, the CPTPP applies investment benefits selectively, restricts individual or enterprise of a Non-State Member to taking advantage of benefits from CPTPP. When performing investment licensing procedures in Vietnam, foreign enterprises that come from State Member must present internal documents indicating the owner or controller to demonstrate that their business is out of permitted denial. Besides, these investors must have substantial business activities in the territory of any State Member other than Vietnam. It is necessary to wait for more guidance from the competent state authorities on implementation of CPTPP.

The CPTPP Agreement restricts investment under its protection. CPTPP protects investment which is in its territory of an investor of CPTPP State Member in existence as of the date of entry into force of CPTPP for those State Members or established, acquired, or expanded thereafter. Therefore, the investments ended or terminated prior to the effective date of CPTPP in Vietnam and host country will not gain the benefits under CPTPP.

In the meantime, the investor could also challenge the denial decision of the host country through the dispute settlement mechanism between investor and state (ISDS).

Vietnam has ratified the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership – CPTPP on Jan 14th, 2019. This Agreement include 11 countries New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Peru, Australia and Vietnam.

 

 

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