Vietnam has ambitious recovery and growth plans, so one might be surprised to hear that new measures have been proposed that would substantially constrain the deployment of foreign debt for investment projects. But that is just what is proposed in the Draft Circular on Conditions for Enterprises' Offshore Loans without Government Guarantee. By its name, you would assume the new Circular would be more liberal than previous rules because no State guarantees are involved in the debt transactions that will be impacted. Private sector loans, you might say, should be allowed between private parties.  On the contrary, the new rules..

In the context of the Covid-19 crisis and the threat of economic crisis, participation in New-Generation Free Trade Agreements (NGFTA) may bring hope to Vietnam’s economic growth.  The most remarkable agreements are the CPTPP, which Vietnam entered on the 14th of January 2019, (other members include: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, and Singapore) and the EVFTA (of which members are the EU and Vietnam; entered in August 2020).  The comprehensive rules on trade liberalisation and foreign investment protection in the new trade agreements bring about many business and investment opportunities for entrepreneurs. However, these agreements..

Vietnam is entering a period of a sea change when it comes to environmental law, including its implementation of several international trade agreements that have strong new environmental commitments, as well as domestic decrees on planning, investment, energy, and most of all its centre piece Environmental Protection Law itself. The pending changes in this area merit attention, mostly because of the unexpected consequences that can arise when new implementing rules based on well-intentioned law backfire or are taken advantage of for the wrong reasons. The National Assembly of Vietnam recently adopted the new Law on Environmental Protection following the proposal..

From 1 January 2021, a new Labor Code adopted by the National Assembly took effect. This new law entirely replaces the previous Labor Code 2012. In this column, I would like to talk about some of the fundamental changes for employers’ consideration to comply with the new laws. CHANGES TO WORK PERMIT OBTAINMENT According to the new Labor Code 2019, if you are a company’s owner, you can obtain a work permit if your holding capital is less than VND3 billion. It is different from the regulation of the Labor Code 2012 which allowed owners of a company to get..