Significant Amendments Of Law On Tendering 2023

On 23 June 2023, the National Assembly adopted the new Law on Tendering effective from 1 January 2024 (Law on Tendering 2023). In an effort to foster a more competitive market, the Law on Tendering 2023 introduces significant amendments regarding the scope of application, methods, and procedures for selecting tenderers and investors. This post will summarize some notable changes in the Law on Tendering 2023.

1)         Amendments to the scope of application

Under both the Law on Tendering 2023 and the old Law on Tendering 2013, the selection of investors for (1) projects using land in accordance with the law on land, and (2) other projects in accordance with specific laws must comply with the tendering procedures.  The Law on Tendering 2023 provides for certain changes relating to such cases.

Regarding projects using land, the above requirement appears to refer to the circumstances of land allocation and land rental via tender procedure as set forth in the new Land Law effective from 1 January 2025 (Land Law 2024). Under the Land Law 2024, the provincial People’s Council must decide to allow a project  using land to be tendered. This condition is not provided in the Land Law 2013 and the Law on Tendering 2013.

With respect to other projects in accordance with specific laws, under Decree 23/2024 implementing the Law on Tendering 2023, the Government specifies projects subject to tendering under specific laws. Such projects include, for example, investment projects for the renovation and reconstruction of apartment buildings, or investment projects for the construction of domestic solid waste treatment works. Previously, the Law on Tendering 2013 did not provide for further clarification on this issue.  

Requirement For Pricing Information In The Application For An M&A Approval Could Cause Troubles To Investors

From February 2024, companies and foreign investors applying for a contribution of capital or purchase of share/capital contribution by the foreign investor (M&A Approval) must state the actual price of proposed transfer, instead of the estimated transfer price as previously. This is one critical change in the new template for the application for an M&A Approval under Circular 25/2023 of Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

The change may have an adverse effect on relevant parties, especially the foreign investor, particularly:

  • The parties of an M&A transaction may find it difficult to declare an “actual transfer price” since the M&A Approval will be issued well in advance of the closing of the transaction.

How Agreements On ROFO, ROFR, Tag Along And Drag Along Could Work In A Multiple Member Limited Liability Company In Vietnam?

In a shareholder agreement (or joint venture agreement) between members of a multiple member limited liability companies (Multiple LLC), the members often agree on various transfer restrictions such as right of first offer (ROFO), right of first refusal (ROFR), tag along or drag along rights. These transfers are intended for the parties to control the ownership structure of the Multiple LLC and their exit from the Multiple LLC. However, implementing such agreements on transfer restriction may be inconsistent with the statutory transfer restrictions provided in Article 52 of the Enterprise Law 2020. Therefore, a shareholder agreement relating to a Multiple LLC should have specific provision to resolve such inconsistencies.

The table below sets out the potential inconsistencies between agreements on ROFO, ROFR, Tag Along and Drag Along and the transfer procedures under Article 52 of the Enterprise Law 2020.

Comments on New Law on Real Estate Business 2023 – Part 2

Please download the pdf version here.

In this post, we continue discussing the new changes introduced by the Real Estate Business Law 2023. Part 1 of our discussion can be found Here.

This post is written by Nguyen Hoang Duong and Nguyen Bich Ngọc, and edited by Nguyen Quang Vu.

1)         New restriction when collecting deposit for purchase of off-plan real estate

Under the Real Estate Business Law 2023, real estate developers can only collect a deposit of up to 5% of sale price of the relevant real estate from purchasers when the residential houses, construction works are qualified to be put into trading. The law further requires a deposit agreement to expressly set out the sale price and area of the off-plan real estate. The off-plan real estate under the deposit agreement must satisfy conditions for sale under law. This indicates that collecting a deposit is considered putting relevant off-plan real estate into business.

The new requirements may pose significant difficulty for real estate developers with weak financial capacity when it comes to funding for pre-construction phase of their projects.