Under the commitments of Vietnam to the WTO (WTO Commitments), printing service is considered as a part of services incidental to manufacturing (CPC 88442). Accordingly, under the WTO Commitments, from 11 January 2015, a foreign investor should be allowed to set up a wholly owned printing subsidiary in Vietnam.

However, under Decree 69/2014, a company involved in the printing of newspapers, statutory forms issued by the State authorities, anti-counterfeit stamps, and “financial invoices” must “have Vietnamese owners”. It is not clear if this means that (1) all owners of such printing company must be Vietnamese or (2) at least one owner of such printing company must be Vietnamese. In either case, the restriction under Decree 69/2014 seems to be contrary to the WTO Commitments.

Vietnam Business Law