A foreign investor / entrepreneur can either fully buy a business, or they can just invest a part to acquire equity in an existing business in Vietnam. Please kindly find our guidance follows:
1. What are the advantages of buying a business in Vietnam?
Potentially acquiring a great location and lease agreement.
The difficult start-up work has already been done. The business should have plans and procedures in place.
Buying an established business often means immediate cash flow.
The business will have a financial history, which gives you an idea of what to expect rather than a completely new start-up which will have higher risks.
You will acquire existing customers, contacts, goodwill, suppliers, staff, plant, equipment and stock.
Existing employees and managers will have experience they can share.
2. Restricted business locations and business lines in Vietnam.
Vietnam has some restricted locations for foreign owned businesses. These vary from province to province. For example, Da Nang has a restricted sea boundary area, where it is very difficult (often even impossible) for a foreign to register or own a company. And in Hoi An, the local investment Authorities are making it more and more difficult for foreigners to own registered businesses within the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Old Town. The official reason is often that Vietnam’s National security is at stake, which means that in order to get the required approval several other Departments of the Government would need to look at it. Having said all of this, the local Authorities often have a large amount of discretionary power to give their approval. So it is always a good idea to have our consultancy to cross check and guide you properly.
Some business lines are restricted for foreign investment. Some of these business lines are completely off – limits, for example everything related to Vietnam’s National security. Other business lines are open to foreign investment, but only in cooperation with a Vietnamese co – owner, for example: advertising. There are business lines that require a certain minimum amount of investment capital, for example: healthcare. And there are business lines that have certain diploma / staff requirements, for example: tourism, and education. If you are doubting whether a specific business line has any restrictions: then drop us a message, and we will get back to you. For example: if you have seen a fully – Vietnamese owned company that you would like to (partially) buy: then our team can check for you which business lines are registered, and whether or not (partial) foreign ownership is legally allowed. But it could also be useful to check existing foreign owned companies, so you know what activities those companies are legally allowed to conduct.
For more information, please contact us by info@hnhconsultand.com or to our hotline