The Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (the Geneva Act of July 2, 1999 – “1999 Act”) officially entered in force in Vietnam on January 1, 2020. Applicants can now seek design protection in Vietnam by filing international design applications through the Hague System.

On March 24, the Government passed Decree 35/2020/ND-CP (Decree 35) guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the 2018 Competition Law (the 2018 Law) with several noteworthy contents.

In lending practice, leasing out a charged asset is common practice for the chargor to exploit the value of such asset. There are still loopholes and drawbacks in the legal framework governing the relationship between the lessee and the chargee of an asset. For this reason, there are many risks facing banks as chargees.

Industrial zones have become a popular investment destination for foreign businesses. It is common now in practice to finance projects carried out in industrial zones and/or to take security over real estate located in those industrial zones. However, since the legal framework on lease of land in industrial zones remains complicated and has its limitations, such financing may turn risky for credit institutions in certain circumstances and at some stages. This article tries to present some legal aspects of extension of credit secured by real estate in industrial zones and suggest how to manage legal risks for credit institutions.

In the context that there are different regulations of the Civil Code, the Commercial Law and the Construction Law regarding the maximum amount of penalty for breach of construction contract, this article will discuss about two legal issues: (i) principles for resolution of the conflict of laws that regulate construction contracts between the Civil Code, the Commercial Law and the Construction Law and (ii) the maximum amount of penalty for breach of construction contracts (including both state-funded construction works and private construction works).

In the coming time, Vietnam’s investment and business environment will be substantially improved in a bid to further raise the country’s competitiveness, according to Government Resolution 02 inked by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on the first day of 2020.

Foreign investors, especially those from the European Union (EU) would find it more appealing to land investment in Vietnam when the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) takes effect, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).

After 10 years of implementation of the Law on Tax Administration, many positive results have been achieved. However, in addition to these results, there remain difficulties and challenges in tax administration activities, including management of taxation of businesses providing cross-border services on the Internet.

In practice, deposits at banks are used as security a great deal. However, the legal framework applicable to that kind of property remains unclear. This article tries to give an overview of the applicable provisions regarding security over deposits and to suggest how to properly construe and improve them.

One year after the release of Government Decree 119 of 2018 on e-invoices in goods sale and service provision, the Ministry of Finance on September 30 issued a circular providing more detailed guidelines on this matter.