Establishing an FDI company pursuant to the new Law on Investment

The 2014 Investment Law, which takes effect as of July 1, 2015, details new regulations on the establishment of FDI companies in Vietnam.

It is LHD FIRM’s honor to recommend these new regulations:

1.   Competent authorities.

The establishment of a foreign-invested company in Vietnam requires application for a Certificate of Investment from a competent authority.

Depending on the location of the company’s registered head office, a competent authority may be the provincial Department of Planning and Investment (applicable to companies outside an Industrial Park or Export Processing Zone or High-tech zone) or the management board of industrial parks, export processing zones or high-tech parks (applicable to companies located in industrial parks, export processing zones or hi-tech parks).

2.   How long to get a license

Please be noted that procedures for establishing a foreign-invested company in Vietnam will normally last longer than those of the other countries in the region.

Before being granted an investment certificate, for several exceptional cases involving (i) any resettlement of 10,000 or more people in mountainous areas or 20,000 people or more in other areas; or (ii) related to the change of land use in special locations such as airport and/or seaport construction and operation, mining, extraction and refining, etc., the project must be approved by the National Assembly, the Prime Minister or the provincial People's Committee in the course of carrying out licensing procedures.

In order to establish an FDI company, it is essential to follow the two steps as below:

3.   Steps to establish an FDI company

Step 1: Apply for a Certificate of Investment: According to current laws, deadline for issuing investment certificates is 15 working days from the submission date of completed dossiers to competent state agencies.

In order to issue a Certificate of Investment, the agency shall evaluate the legality and feasibility of the investment project on the following grounds:

Legal framework includes Vietnam's commitments when entering WTO, the Law on Investment of Vietnam, the Law on Enterprises of Vietnam and other specialized legal regulations as well as the socio-economic development plan of the place at which the new company’s headquarters are planned to be located.

Financial ability, expected investment capital that the Clients will invest in the investment projects, facilities and human resources for the implementation of the investment projects in Vietnam.

Step 2: After receiving the Certificate of Investment, it is mandatory that the Investor carry out applying for a business registration.

It is regulated by law that within 05 working days since the date of application, the state agency issues a Certificate of Business Registration to establish an FDI company.

4.   What can LHD FIRM support investors?

New Procedures of establishing an FDI company can be visualized with the following steps:

a. Prepare required documents: LHD FIRM shall collect every necessary information and documents from our valued Clients.

After receiving all necessary information and documents, we shall translate all documents from English to Vietnamese and prepare the application according to standard forms. The first draft will be sent to the Client for any review and comment. After updating the draft based on the Client’s opinion, we will ask for initial opinions from relevant state agencies and send the completed dossier back to the Client for needed seals and signatures. We expect that this procedure can be completed within 10 working days.

b. Apply for the certificate:

– Within 02 working days since as to the date of receiving full documents with the Client’s seals and signatures, we will submit the application to competent state authorities. Within 2 months since the date the completed dossier is submitted to the authorities, we will be able to obtain the Certificate of Investment.

– Within 03 working days since as to the date of receiving the Certificate of Investment, we will carry out the application for the business registration certificate. This application procedure will be completed within 05 days since the date of submission.

c. After application: Within 15 working days since the application is completed, we will carry out last procedures such as announcing the company’s establishment and registering for the company’s seal template.

For the avoidance of doubt, in reality, any administration procedure can be lengthened because a state agency may need opinions from other relevant departments. In such circumstances, LHD Firm shall do our best to accelerate the progress.

Best regards,