Processing activities by an foreign invested enterprises (FIE) in Vietnam

It is not clear under Vietnamese law if an FIE needs to obtain a Trading Licence (Giấy phép kinh doanh) to provide commercial processing services (gia công thương mại) to other companies. Under Decree 23/2007 on goods purchase and sale activities and other related activities of FIEs, commercial processing is regarded as an activity relating to sale and purchase of goods. Accordingly, technically, if an FIE wishes to involve in commercial processing, such FIE should obtain a Trading Licence.

On the other hand, after Decree 23/2007, Ministry of Trade issued Circular 4/2007 under which, an FIE can process goods if (i) the processing activity is consistent with the objectives set out in the Investment Certificate of this FIE; (ii) the processed goods are not banned or suspended from import and export or if the processed goods are subject to import and export licence, the FIE can enter into the processing contract only when the import and export licence is obtained; and (iii) FIE has completed its capital construction investment and has commenced production and business activities. It appears that a Trading Licence is not required under Circular 4/2007.

Two regulations regarding processing activities of an FIE may cause certain confusion. Although Decree 23/2007 is a higher legislation, in practice, it appears that Circular 4/2007 still applies and FIEs do not obtain Trading Licence for their processing activities.

This post is contributed by Le Minh Thuy, a trainee lawyer at Venture North Law.

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New Model Charter for a Public Joint Stock Company in Vietnam

On 22 September 2017, the Ministry of Finance issued a model charter of public companies under Circular 95/2017 following the new governance regulations of Decree 71/2017. This model charter (New Model Charter) is to replace the old one (Old Model Charter) provided under Circular 12/2012, which is based on the now-defunct Enterprise Law 2005. These charters are not legally compulsory, thus should be read with reference purpose only.

Most changes to the New Model Charter reflect changes in the Enterprise Law 2014 and Decree 71/2017 (find out more here). Besides, the New Model Charter introduces the following notable changes:

WHEN IS A LABOUR CONTRACT AUTOMATICALLY RENEWED IN VIETNAM?

Under Article 22.2 of the Labour Code 2012, where a definite term labour contract or seasonal labour contract (Old Contracts) expires, and the employee continues to work, then within 30 days from the expiry date of such Old Contracts (Expiry Date) the parties must enter into a new one; if the new labour contracts is not established, then the Old Contracts will become an indefinite term contract or a definite term contract with term of 24 months collectively (New Contracts). This provision has been interpreted in different manners as follows:

Annual and irregular meetings of the Shareholder Meeting in Vietnam

The Shareholder Meeting of a joint stock company (JSC) must convene a meeting at least once a year during the first four months or, if permitted by the Business Registration Authority and the Board, six months after the end of a financial year. Such meeting is called the annual meeting (cuộc họp thường niên) and other meetings of the Shareholder Meeting are called irregular meetings (cuộc họp bất thường). The Enterprise Law 2014 is not clear if there are two or more meetings of the Shareholder Meeting of a JSC in the first four months after the end of a financial year, then whether the first meeting among these meetings is regarded as the annual meeting or the JSC may have flexibility in deciding which meeting is the annual meeting.

Vietnam Business Law