NEWS

The global coronavirus epidemic has caused massive disruption to businesses and may impact certain contractual relationships, either with clients or employees, Minh Nguyen, senior associate and head of dispute resolution practice at ACSV Legal, discusses notable changes in regulation which could directly affect daily business operations in Vietnam, and pores over certain legal issues that Vietnamese-based companies might encounter due to the pandemic.

On 31 January 2023, Decision No. 01/2023/QD-TTg (Decision) was issued to provide relief to subjects affected by Covid-19. This decision entails a reduction of land rental and water surface rental for the year 2022.

Circular 15 addresses the issues that have arisen from the expiration of regulations on FiTs for solar and wind power plants that were not completed yet. Some guidance is given how FiTs should be handled for the so-called transitional plants.

Decree 59 introduces the electronic identity (eID) for individuals and companies. This eID can be used for electronic identification and authentication. Both Vietnamese and foreign citizens will get an eID. There is a difference in application for individuals and companies.

The biggest concern for companies was the requirement to localise data. However, this requirement does not always apply, only under certain circumstances. Also, in case of violation of the Law on Cybersecurity, an overseas service provider will be required to store data locally. Finally, any activity of taking advantage of cybersecurity measures to violate the law might even result in the obligation to compensate if the violation has infringed the lawful rights and interests of others.

In this edition of Chambers Global Practice Guides: Private Equity 2022, ACSV Legal contributed to the Vietnam chapter on Law & Practice and Trends & Developments. The guide provides the latest legal information relevant for PE and M&A such as the structure of transactions, terms of acquisition documentation, public-to-private takeovers, mandatory offer thresholds and hostile takeover offers.

In this new edition, you can read about the draft version of the decree on recruiting foreign employee in Vietnam as well as the draft resolution to support businesses after the COVID-19 pandemic. We also provide you with some other news and regulations which we thought might be of interest.

In this new edition, you can read an update on wind power development in Vietnam and what would be needed to meet energy demands in the future, and about court-annexed mediation, a new method of dispute resolution that will be available as of 1 January 2021. We also provide you with some other news and regulations which we thought might be of interest.

The method of determination of the relevant market and market share prescribed in Decree 35 is similar to the superseded decree. In particular, the relevant market shall be determined based on the relevant product market and relevant geographical market; and the market share of an enterprise shall be determined by calculating turnover from sales, turnover of inward purchases, or market share of a group of affiliated enterprises.

With the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement taking effect last year, the government recently circulated a draft decree on personal data protection, drafted by the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam. Proposed to be adopted in December, it will become the first unified regulation on personal data protection in Vietnam. Minh Nguyen, senior associate of ACSV Legal, gives a heads-up on certain points worth noting in the draft.

Vietnam is expected to speed up equitisation of state-owned enterprises and divestment of state capital to create a level playing field for business entities and generate funds for infrastructure. Law firm ACSV Legal's associates Phuong Huynh and Duc Tran find out how these actions may offer ample opportunity for private financiers to invest in some of Vietnam's leading market players in 2020.

Investment is a key driving force for economic growth and competitiveness as it spurs innovation, creates jobs, and connect investors to global value chains. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) provides a strong, rule-based framework through which to grow investment relations with key Asia-Pacific economies. ACSV Legal Vietnam outlines how the CPTPP benefits investors, and the terms and conditions to ensure that investment procedures will be easier and more transparent for foreign funders.