Franchise Registration to be abolished in Vietnam

HANOI - The Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) has announced a plan to eliminate 675 current investment requirements and conditions. Lawyers Baker McKenzie say practical application of the decision will reveal the effective outcome of this announcement as investment procedures will be regulated by MOIT at its discretion.

The Decision comes with a set of detailed annexes, each of which sets out specific investment requirements and conditions to be abolished in trade areas under the Ministry's supervision (e.g. franchising, oil, gas, logistics, foodstuffs).

Notably, says BM, MOIT plans to remove the registration requirement for franchising operations. The Ministry will no longer require foreign franchisors to register with MOIT before granting franchising rights to Vietnamese franchisees.

Elimination of the franchise registration requirement is set to be effective by Q2 2018. MOIT said it hoped that by reducing administrative procedures more foreign enterprises would invest in business opportunities in Vietnam.  www.bakermckenzie.com (ATI).