Tokyo Gas Wants to Build LNG Cai Mep - Thi Vai Port

Tokyo Gas (Japan) desires to invest in Vietnam, together with Vietnam partner to build LNG Cai Mep – Thi Vai port to become the most modern facility in Vietnam in this field.

On August 15th, Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has met Mr Michiaki Hirose, General Manager of Tokyo Gas (Japan).

At the meeting, the Prime Minister highly appreciated Tokyo Gas’s establishment of representative office in Vietnam; he also congratulated Tokyo Gas and PV Gas (Vietnam) for jointly establishing a business operating in the field of LNG gas in Vietnam and welcomed Tokyo Gas to launch a promising cooperation program with Vietnam.

In fact, the demand for liquefied petroleum gas in Vietnam is huge, especially in cities and coastal areas, the Prime Minister believes that with good partners, environment and demand, Tokyo Gas will succeed in Vietnam. Furthermore, many Vietnamese businesses are eager to do business with Japanese companies because of their great prestige, experience and resources.

Vietnam Prime Minister affirmed that oil and gas cooperation is one of the priority areas for Vietnam and Japan’s economic cooperation, at the same time Vietnam wishes that Tokyo Gas will maintain long term business in Vietnam.

According to Mr Michiaki Hirose, Tokyo Gas will strengthen its cooperation with PV Gas in the coming time and hope that Vietnam Government will support this cooperation. He also hoped that Tokyo Gas together with Vietnamese partner will construct LNG Cai Mep – Thi Vai port to become the most modern facility in Vietnam in this field.

With Japan, Vietnam is considered as an important partner in energy cooperation, including LNG. Japan – Vietnam cooperation will create a good premise for Tokyo Gas to implement the project in Vietnam. In that process, Tokyo Gas needs support from the Government of Vietnam on mechanisms and policies.

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Benifits of Setting Up Business in Danang | ANT Consulting

Da Nang – one of the strategic economic centers of Vietnam’s central region

The Vietnam prime minister has established central region’s strategic economic center, including 05 provinces and cities: Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh to promote potential, geographical location and competitive advantages and step by step develop this economic region to become one of the most dynamic economic region in the country. In particular, Da Nang is defined as the role of nuclear motivation for promoting the development of the central region and the highlands.

Da Nang – eastern gateway of east – west economic corridor (EWEC)

EWEC is one of five economic corridor developed by the initiative of the Asia development bank in the greater Mekong sub – region.

Currently, the road system in Laos, Thailand and the road line from Da Nang to Savannakhet are completed. The second international bridge spanning the Mekong river was completed in the end of 2006 to facilitate the circulation of goods and passengers by road line from Da Nang to the northeastern provinces of Thailand and vice versa. East-west economic corridor not only provide an opportunity for the country on the path of promoting regional cooperation and improve living standards for the people but also enable businesses better access to the raw materials market services, capital, labor and technology with the purpose of creating favorable conditions for investment and trade across the border and diversifying economic activity and exports and promoting tourism development.

Da Nang – entrance of the cultural heritage and natural wonders of the world

Da Nang is located in the heart of the “world heritage road”, stretching from the central coast of Vinh city to Da Lat city. From Da Nang, along the national highway 1A, visitors can access quickly and conveniently four of five world heritages in Vietnam, including Phong Nha – Ke Bang national park (about 300 km from the north of Da Nang), the ancient capital of Hue (about 100km from the north), Hoi An (about 30km from the southeast) and My Son (about 70 km from the southwest).

With the advantage of geographical location and potential economic development in tourism, Da Nang is an ideal destination for tourists as well as investors.

Infrastructure is step by step improved

Da Nang is an important traffic hub of the central – highlands and country with system of international airports, deep sea ports, roads, north-south railways developed conveniently.

Da Nang port is the third largest commercial ports in Vietnam after Saigon port and the port of Hai Phong. With a depth of 11m wharf, warehouse systems and equipment upgraded by capital funds of the government of Japan, Da Nang port can receive ships with a capacity of 45,000 dwt and others such as container ships, passenger ships, cargo ships. Da Nang is the international shipping route enabling to go to Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan and Korea.

Da Nang international airport is one of the three best airports in Vietnam. In addition to domestic flights, there are weekly international flights directly from Da Nang to Singapore, Bangkok, Taipei. In the near future, the airport will open more routes to Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. Da Nang international airport is currently being upgraded and expanded to meet the needs of increasing passengers and cargo.

The system of roads in and out of the city are constantly being expanded and newly constructed.

Telecommunication systems: Da Nang is one of three major telecomunication centers of the country, international transmission speed with good quality of Southeast Asia. Da Nang post provides various and modern telecommunication services and be capable meeting the needs of customers.

The other services supporting investment (financial, banking, insurance …): most banks and finance companies of Vietnam have large branches in Da Nang. Some branches of foreign banks and international insurance companies are operating effectively in the city. These services have increasingly been improved better to meet the needs of investors.

Trained and abundant human resources

Da Nang has abundant human resources (over 50% of the population of the city), mostly young labor. Number of employees with technical expertise trained account nearly a quarter of the labor force. Labor costs in Da Nang are lower than some other cities in the country.

Da Nang is one of the provinces in the country with the high educational development index which create a favorable platform for the development of human resources of the city to perform the goal of improving the quality of human resources, quality of life. The city has about 14 universities, 15 colleges and professional schools with nearly 140,000 students. This system performs training in most areas of science, engineering, information technology, economics, business administration, language and pedagogy… Danang university also cooperates with universities of countries with an advanced education such as France, US, Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand …

Software technology center in Da Nang is one of the leading software producers in Vietnam and is the leading training center of the central region. Over the years, the software technology center has cooperated closely with companies of India (aptech) and Japan (aots) to train programmers, technicians and engineers reaching the international standard. Many IT company has chosen Da Nang to set up company in da nang to hold their talents for international projects.

In addition, the city also has about 55 vocational training centers which often provide short-term training courses in computer science, sewing, mechanics, electricity – electronics, construction techniques, etc …

Quality of life

Along with the process of urbanization, economic growth in recent years has helped to material life and spirit of the people of Da Nang continuously improved.

Unlike other large cities in Vietnam, next to the bustle of urban development, living in Da Nang always bring a sense of peace, comfort and closeness to nature. Da Nang is one of the very few cities in Vietnam having a harmonious combination between high mountains, deep forests, long beach, deep river. After work, you can easily find space to relax beside the river or on beautiful beaches.

Da Nang today is a city with a healthy cultural environment, with urban civilized lifestyle, literacy levels elevated, beautiful natural scenery. It can be said that Da Nang is an exciting place to live, work, travel and invest in Vietnam.

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Improving Business Environment and Enhancing National Competitiveness in 2018 | ANT Consulting

After four years of implementation of resolutions 19-2016/NQ-CP, 19-2017/NQ-CP, 19-2018/NQ-CP of the Government, business environment and competitiveness of Vietnam have continuously improved.

According to the research, in 2017, the business environment, enhance competitiveness has achieved positive results; National competitiveness increased 5 levels compared to 2016 (increased from 60/138 to 55/137); business environment increased 14 levels (increased from 82/190 to 68/190 economy); Innovative innovation improved 12 levels, reaching the rank of 47/127 economy. These are the highest rankings that Vietnam has achieved so far.

Continuing to follow the assessment objects of World Bank’s business environment, the enhance competitiveness of the World Economic Forum, World Intellectual Property Organization, etc., to achieve the targets set for 2020, the quality of a business environment of Vietnam is on par with the average of ASEAN 4.

The target for 2018 will improve the business environment index from 8 to 18, which focuses on improving business start-up and dispute resolution. Complete the abolition, simplification of investment conditions, business. Limit the specialized inspection according to goods and products; strongly transform the way state management from pre-inspection to post-inspection. Improve the application of information technology in administrative procedures and online services. Enhance the competitiveness of the tourism industry, logistic services to facilitate and reduce business costs.

In order to achieve the above objectives, resolution 19/2018/NQ-CP provides basic solutions and assigned tasks to each agency and coordinated implementation to achieve the targets set in 2018, bringing Vietnam’s ranking to the top of the charts. Accordingly, ministries and agencies shall develop action plans, define specific objectives, tasks and responsibilities, monitor and evaluate them. Carrying out reform of administrative procedures and application of information technology in public services; to carry out the inspection, examination and audit in a uniform manner, avoid overlapping, affecting the operation of enterprises, create a competitive environment, promote transparency and market development of testing and inspection services, inspection, certification.

Specific mandates for ministries: Ministry of Planning and Investment (focusing on activities related to enterprises); Ministry of Justice (elaborate a plan on improving the law on contracts and civil dispute resolution by non-court proceedings); Ministry of Finance (dealing with tax issues, improving tax index, business start-up index); Ministry of Transport (offering solutions, reducing costs, developing logistics infrastructure) and other ministries such as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Ministry of Public Security; Ministry of Industry and Trade and other ministries such as Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Information and Communication; Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; Ministry of Health, Ministry of Construction; Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development … to coordinate to achieve the objectives set out in the resolution.

These are the policies which Vietnam government has been focusing on and will legalize in regulations to implement in practice.

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Business Conditions for Condominium Management Training Service

On July 1st 2016, the Government issued Decree No. 79/2016/ND-CP guiding the business of training service, improving the professional knowledge, management profession and operation of condominium.

Accordingly, organizations and individuals providing the above services must fully satisfy the 05 following conditions:

– First, the organization was established and operating in Vietnam; has the function of vocational training or college, university or postgraduate education as prescribed.

– Second, has a facility and classroom to ensure sufficient seat for students and location for students to practice on professional knowledge and practice.

– Third, has syllabus or teaching materials consistent with the training framework program that was promulgated by the Ministry of Construction.

– Fourth, has a minimum of 40% of the teachers on the payroll or a contract of indefinite term (has social insurance contribution) in accordance with the training framework program under the guidance of the Ministry of Construction.

– Fifth, being recognized by the Ministry of Construction or the agency authorized by the Ministry of Construction as qualifying for business of condominium management training service.

In addition, this Decree also provides for conditions for business of real estate brokerage practice training service as follows:

– First, the organization was established and operating in Vietnam; has the function of vocational training or college, university or postgraduate education as prescribed.

– Second, has a facility and classroom to ensure sufficient seats for students and location for students to practice on knowledge of real estate brokerage and administration of real estate trading floors.

– Third, has syllabus or teaching materials consistent with the training framework program that was promulgated by the Ministry of Construction.

– Fourth, has a minimum of 30% of the teachers on the payroll or a contract of indefinite term (has social insurance contribution) in accordance with the training framework program under the guidance of the Ministry of Construction.

Decree No. 79/2016/ND-CP officially takes effect upon signing.

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Legal Procedures Post Licensing in Vietnam

After establishing a company in Vietnam, the compay has to perform a number of legal procedures for compliance purposes.

First, they have to declare the license tax. The tax declaration should be submitted to tax authorities. If the taxpayer has a branch in the same province, the tax declarations of the branch should be submitted to the taxpayer’s tax authority. On the other hand, if the taxpayer has a branch in another province, the tax declarations of the branch should be submitted to the tax authority of the branch. In case when the taxpayer does not have a permanent business location, the tax declaration should be submitted to the sub-department of taxation where the business is located or where the taxpayer resides. License tax is submitted annually and if the taxpayer has declared and paid license tax, he is not required to submit license tax declaration in the next year if the amount of license tax payable is not changed. In case the taxpayer amount of license tax payable in the next year is changed, a tax declaration shall be submitted by December 31st of that year.

Second, the enterprise has to conduct the VAT (value added tax) declaration. The taxpayer that has just begun his business shall declare VAT quarterly. In the next calendar year after 12 months of business, VAT declarations shall be declared whether monthly or quarterly depending on the revenue from the sale of goods and/or services in the preceding calendar year (12 months). VAT shall be declared monthly or quarterly throughout the calendar year and the 3-year period. For example, the first stable period begins on October 1st, 2014 and ends on December 31st 2016.

Third is the CIT declaration (corporate income tax). The CIT declaration should be submitted to the supervisory tax authorities. According to business results, the taxpayer shall make the quarterly tax payment within 30 days of the quarter succeeding the quarter in which tax is incurred; they shall not submit the provisional CIT declaration quarterly.

The fourth is the invoice printing. Before placing the first order for invoices, the company must send a written request for permission to use ordered invoices to the supervisory tax authority. Before the business uses invoices for its sale of goods and services, except for invoices purchased from or provided by the tax authority, the business has to send a notice of invoice publication together with a sample invoice to the tax authority.

Every quarter, sellers of goods and services shall submit the invoice using a report to the tax authority, even when there are no invoices that have been used during the period. The report of the first quarter shall be submitted by April 30th, second quarter by July 30th, third quarter by October 30th, and fourth quarter by January 30th of the next year. If no invoices are used during the period, the quantity of used invoices in the report shall be zero (0).

The fifth is the bank account. The opening of a bank account to conduct transactions with customers is necessary because according to the ministry of Finance, the invoice value of 20 million VND or above should be transferred through the bank. Within 10 days from the day that enterprise opens a bank account, the company has to notify the bank account number to the competent tax agency.

The sixth also the last one is labour and social insurance. If the contract between enterprise and employee has a duration of over 3 months, it is subjected to compulsory social insurance.

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Renewal of License for the Establishment of Branches Office in Vietnam

The extension of the license for the establishment of a foreign trader’s branch in Vietnam shall be following the regulation of the commercial law and the relevant guiding decrees and circulars under Vietnam laws.

Preparation of dossiers for extension of license for the establishment of branches includes:

-Application for extension of license for the establishment of branches, made according to the form set by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, signed by a competent representative of the foreign trader;

-A copy of the business registration certificate or equivalent paper of the foreign trader that is translated into Vietnamese and certified by a Vietnamese diplomatic mission or consulate abroad consular legalization in accordance with the law of Vietnam;

-Copies of audited financial statements or documents certifying the fulfillment of tax or financial obligations in the latest fiscal year or papers of equivalent value issued by competent agencies or organizations (where the foreign trader established) to prove the existence and operation of the foreign trader in the latest financial year, it must be translated into Vietnamese and authenticated in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese law;

-A copy of the license for the establishment of the branch.

The order and procedures for extension of the license for the establishment of the branch at a competent agency shall be as follows:

-A dossier for extension of the license for the establishment of the branch must be submitted within 30 days at the latest before the license expires;

-Foreign traders submit applications directly or via post or online (if applicable) to the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

-Within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the dossier, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall check and request the supplement if the dossier is incomplete and invalid. Requests for supplementary records are made at most once during the process of processing applications;

-Within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the complete and valid dossier, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall renew the branch establishment permit. In case of non-renewal, the reasons therefor must be clearly stated in writing;

-In case the extension of the license for the establishment of the branch is not governed in specialized legal documents, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall send a written request for comment to the specialized management ministry within 03 working days from the date of receipt of a complete and valid file. Within 5 working days from the date of receiving the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s written request, the specialized managing ministries shall clearly state whether they agree or disagree with the license extension. Within 5 working days after receiving the opinions of the specialized management ministry, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall extend or not extend the branch establishment permit to the foreign trader. In case of non-renewal, the reasons therefor must be clearly stated in writing;

-Within 15 days from the date of extension of the license for the establishment of the branch, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall publish on the website of the Ministry.

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Simplifying the Procedure for Foreigner to Reside in Vietnam

For foreigners wishing to come to Vietnam to work and reside temporarily, they need to either set-up a company in Vietnam or work for others. The owner of the company does not need a work permit but still needs to apply for a temporary residence card.

However, the foreign employee will need the employer to sponsor the work permit in Vietnam before applying for a temporary residence card. A recent draft law on entry, exit and residence of foreigner in Vietnam has been proposed with some changes. The draft regulates many open provisions on entry-exit procedure, temporary and permanent residence conditions for foreigners to reside in Vietnam. ANT Lawyers always follows the new updates about administrative procedures in Vietnam to provide our client with the best service.

The new draft law details conditions for granting the temporary residence card for foreigners working in Vietnam, raising the term of this card from 3 year to 5 year. The foreigners’ category expands to scientists and specialists residing in Vietnam for the purpose of attracting international talents, the foreigners who don’t have any type of document proving nationality, and have resided in Vietnam before the year 2000. The foreigners holding temporary residence cards must change cards periodically 10 years at the issuing offices. The draft law does not allow the foreigners to change the entry purpose, but allows them to supplement the purpose of belonging persons in some specific cases such as in terms of diplomatic representative offices, consulates, international representative offices of the United Nations and students at universities, colleges, schools.

For more information or requirements of legal services to obtain a temporary residence card in Vietnam, we could assist. 

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Students learn how to start up business

HCMC - Corporate executives pointed out at a business seminar in HCMC on Monday that feasible ideas and the daring will be among the important factors students should possess if they want to set up their own businesses and develop their personal brands after graduation.

Duong Thu Huong, director of public relations and operations at IDG Ventures Vietnam, asked more than 200 students at the seminar to identify what they would want based on their ideas and then try their best to make it a reality.

Nguyen Minh Triet, chief executive officer of Strategy Asia Group, shared Huong’s view, saying that business start-up was to start a journey. “You must select a direction and make every effort to achieve the targets you set for the journey,” Triet told participating students at the “Building a Corporate Career: Developing Personal Brand and Leadership in a Big Game” session of the “Re-Invest Yourself” seminar.

Triet said a company should have a clear development strategy and targets. “Different approaches are needed to reach different goals,” he said and advised young people to set up businesses in the fields where they have experience and know-how to gain a certain advantage.

Huong of IDG Ventures Vietnam warned business start-up was not an easy job because young people were required to have practical ideas appropriate for their personal capacities.

However, she said that many opportunities were awaiting youths to set up new businesses and investment funds were also ready to help translate their business ideas into reality.

Huong told the Daily that IDG Ventures Vietnam would invest in new feasible business ideas and the investment capital would depend on the scale of the project.

Triet of Strategy Asia Group said failure was common when doing business but stressed the lessons from this failure was what that mattered most for successful business people. “Failure is necessary for us to achieve success.”

Nguyen Cong Ai, director of tax and corporate services at KPMG Vietnam, said failure drew people to reality and helped them work harder to get more success. “The biggest failure in life is that we do nothing when we fail,” Ai told the seminar.

Triet of Strategy Asia Group said personal brand development was like building a company. “We must have a proper strategy and set the target to achieve.”

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The 66th Asian Business conference in Danang

On July 4th, 2019 the People’s Committee of Da Nang organized the 66th Asian Business Conference about business cooperation between Vietnam and Japan. Representatives of 60 Vietnamese enterprises and 130 enterprises from Japan attended showing intersts in economic cooperation.

The representatives of Japanese companies provided many useful information about business investment cooperation opportunities in the fields of information technology, high technology, health, education …After 45 years from the establishment of diplomatic relations, Japan has become one of the Vietnam’s leading partner in many areas, becoming the largest ODA provider, and the second largest FDI investor in Vietnam.

Japan is leading countries investing in Da Nang with more than 180 projects and the total investment capital is nearly 890 million USD, focusing on the fields of industrial production, high technology, services, real estate and travel. The Da Nang’s enterprises in supporting industries, IT, textiles, fisheries, education … are always willing to cooperate with Japanese partners to expand markets, access technology and new management systems.

It is obvious that Japan is one of strategic partners, a key market with strong financial and public potential, including high-tech industry, information and communication technology and supporting industries as well as services and education sectors. The city government always strives to create favorable conditions for Japanese investors to establish and implement effective projects, as well as implement solutions to improve the city’s investment environment such as infrastructure construction, high-tech parks and centralized information technology zones, planning new industrial parks with attractive investment preferential policies, promoting administrative procedure reforms and focusing on human resource training qualified, skilled … to meet the demand of the investors.

The Conference creates opportunities for interaction and discussions between Vietnamese enterprises and Japanese enterprises, between Da Nang city and investors in the area of manufacturing, construction, healthcare, tourism, education, science and technology.

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