SETTING UP A REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE OF FOREIGN TRADERS:

1. Legal documents:

- Law on trade No.36/2005/QH11 dated 14/6/2005

- Decree No.07/2016/ND-CP dated 25/01/2016 of the Government providing details for implementation of Law on trade in relation to representative office and branch of foreign traders in Vietnam

- Circular No.11/2016/TT-BCT dated 05/7/2016 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade providing forms for implementation the Decree No.07/2016/ND-CP dated 25/01/2016 of the Government providing details for implementation of Law on trade in relation to representative office and branch of foreign traders in Vietnam

- Circular 133/2012/TT-BTC dated 13/08/2012 of the Ministry of Finance providing fees in relation to issuance representative license of foreign traders.

2. Conditions for setting up the representative office of foreign traders:

Foreign traders of countries which were members of treaties in which Vietnam was a member satisfy the following conditions:

- Has operated at least 01 year from the date of establishment;

- In case the business registration certificate has expiry date then the remaining term must be at least 01 year from the date of submission the application for representative office;

- Operation purposes of the representative office must be suitable to the commitments of Vietnam in the treaties which Vietnam was a member;

- In case operation purposes of the representative office were not suitable to the commitments of Vietnam or in case the foreign traders were not from the countries which were members of treaties in which Vietnam was a member, the establishment of the representative office must be approved firstly by the minister of the specific ministry.

3. Licensing authority: Department of Industry and Trade where the representative office is located

4. Application documents

- Application for setting up the representative office (in standard form)

- Notarized copy of business registration certificate (which must be authenticated by Vietnamese embassy in its country

- Appointment letter to appoint the chief representative

- Notarized audited financial report or a document showing that the foreign trader has fulfilled tax duties in the most recent year or another documents issued by the authority of its country proving that the foreign trader has operated in the most recent year

- Notarized passport or ID card (for Vietnamese) or notarized passport (for foreigner) of the chief representative

- Documents in relation to representative office’s address:

+ Notarized MOU or lease contract or a document providing that the foreign trader has the right to use such premises for representative office’s address.

+ Notarized documents of the premises (pursuant to article 28 of Decree 07/2016/ND-CP and other related documents).

All documents in foreign language must be transited into Vietnamese and notarized in according to Laws of Vietnam.

All above documents must be submitted 01 set to the licensing authority

5. Licensing term: 07 working days

6. Government fee: VND3,000,000

7. Application form: Application for setting up the foreign representative office (Form MD-1- Circular 11/2016/TT-BTC)

Contact: Ms. Nguyễn Thị Lụa (Attorney at law) 0903165577