Foreign business entities shall be permitted to establish their own representative offices in Vietnam (hereinafter referred to as representative offices) and operation in accordance with the provisions of the Commercial Law and guidances

1. The procedures for establishment of representaitve office in Vietnam

An application file for issuance of a licence for establishment of a representative office shall comprise:

 a. Application for issuance of a licence for establishment of a representative office in the sample form stipulated by the Ministry of Trade and signed by the authorized representative of the foreign business entity;

 b. Copy of the business registration certificate or certificate of equivalent validity of the foreign business entity certified by the competent body in the place where the foreign business entity was established or has business registration. If the business registration certificate or certificate of equivalent validity stipulates a duration of operation of the foreign business entity, the residual term must be at least one year;

 c. Audited financial statements or other data of equivalent validity proving the actual existence and operations of the foreign business entity throughout the preceding financial year;

 d. Copy of the operational charter of the foreign business entity, if it is an economic organization.

2. The operational contents of a representative office shall comprise:

 a. Exercise of the function of a liaison office.

 b. Facilitation of formulation of co-operative projects of the foreign business entity in Vietnam.

 c. Market research to promote opportunities for purchase and sale of goods and for provision and sale of commercial services of the foreign business entity that it represents.

 d. Monitoring and activating performance of contracts of the foreign business entity that it represents which have been signed with Vietnamese parties or which relate to Vietnamese markets.

 e. Other activities permitted by the law of Vietnam.

3. A licence for establishment of a representative office in Vietnam shall have a duration of five years.

4. The procedures after license of representative office

 a. Notification of operation of representative office:

  Within a time-limit of forty five (45) days from the date of issuance of a licence, the representative office must publish in three consecutive issues of a newspaper or electronic media authorized to be published in Vietnam an announcement as stipulated by laws.

  Within the time-limit stipulated above, a representative office must commence official operation and must provide written notice to the Department of Trade of commencement of operation at the registered office in standard form guided.

 b.  Application for grant of seal: Represetative office is grnated the seal for it operaion.

 c. Opening bank accounts: Representative offices shall be permitted to open accounts for the payment of disbursements in foreign currency and accounts for the payment of disbursements in Vietnamese dong sourced from foreign currency at banks authorized to operate in Vietnam and may use such accounts only for the operations of the representative office

 d. Operational reporting regime: Representative offices must forward an annual written report on their operations during the year to the licence-issuing body prior to the last business day in January of the following year

5. A representative office shall terminate its operations in the following cases:

 a. At the request of the foreign business entity and as approved by the competent body;

 b. When the foreign business entity terminates its operations in accordance with the law of the country where such foreign business entity was established or has business registration;

 c. When the duration of operation of the licence for establishment of the representative office expires and the foreign business entity does not request an extension;

 d. When the duration of operation of the licence for establishment of the representative office expires and the licence-issuing body does not agree to an extension;

 e. When the licence for establishment of the representative office  is withdrawn pursuant to a provision of law.