Client: Our Company intend to set up an office in Vietnam, may be you are able to advise us on this.
We are american Trading Company and has presence in USA (HQ), Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and China.
We would like to know the minimum paid up capital for setting up a Branch Office or Reprentative Office in Ho Chi Minh?
Lawyer: I am grateful to know you and work with you. Through your email below, we understand that your company is a trading company incorporated in USA. Now your company intends to setup a representative office or branch in Ho Chi Minh City. You therefore would like to seek our advice on capital required for setting up such representative office or branch.
Regarding to the matter above, we firstly would like to note that, under Vietnam Law, for setting up a representative office, you do not need to inject capital. However, the parent company must finance the representative office so that it can pay necessary cost for operation in Vietnam.
Last but not least, representative office in Vietnam is not allowed for conducting business for profit making purpose. It shall be permitted to act as contact point of the parent company in Vietnam, conducting market research, coordination with business partners in Vietnam for trade promotion or implementation of contracts between parent company and business partners.
On the contrary, a branch office is allowed to conduct the business. However, you have to inject capital into the office in Vietnam. Vietnam Law only impose the minimum capital for several business lines such as banking, finance, tourism, telecommunication, securities, insurance etc. For other business sectors, no minimum capital is required.
However, you must declare how much you will invest into the branch office in Vietnam and prove that such capital amount shall be sufficient for long term operation of the branch office in Vietnam. Competent authority may reject your application if they doubt that the proposed capital is not enough for business activities.
We shall provide you our detailed advice on specific issues regarding to setting up representative office or branch office upon your confirmation about following matters:
– Which option will you choose, i.e. establishment of a representative office or branch office?
– If the branch office is selected, what is about the proposed business line of such branch office.
We do hope that the above information is helpful for you. If you have any further inquiry, please feel free to contact us.
