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Vietnam Entering The Market

Vietnam is 99th in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking.

The main challenges of doing business in Vietnam are:

• Inadequate infrastructure
• Corruption
• Lack of skills
• Bureaucracy
• Grey areas of Vietnamese law
• Lack of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement
• Language barrier means translators and interpreters often needed

Transparency International rated Vietnam 116th in its Corruption Perceptions Index.

You should ensure you take the necessary steps to comply with the requirements of the UK Bribery Act.

UK retailers will need to meet the requirements of Vietnam’s economic needs test which limits the number of stores foreign retailers can open. Details can be found in articles 7 and 17 of Circular 08/2013/TT-BCT issued by the Ministry of Investment and Trade (MoIT).

Growth potential

Economic growth

Vietnam’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is USD $170.6 billion. Per capita purchasing power is around USD $3,600.

GDP increased 5.4% in 2013. An average of 6% growth a year is forecast from 2014 to 2017.

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)

Vietnam has signed 6 regional FTAs:

• China
• Japan
• South Korea
• India
• Australia
• New Zealand

There is also a bilateral FTA with Chile.

Vietnam is currently negotiating a free trade agreement with the EU. It is also in talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and on FTA’s with the United States and Russia.

If your company is in a contract with a Vietnamese buyer, goods and services provided by your overseas subsidiary in these countries will benefit from preferential import duties.

gov.uk

Vietnam doing business guide

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