I am a foreigner and wish to open a culinary training and restaurant service center in Vietnam. What conditions must I have?
According to the Vietnamese law, in order to open a vocational training center in Vietnam, you must have an investment registration certificate, a decision permitting establishment of a vocational training center and a certificate of registration of vocational education activities in Vietnam.
Firstly, in order to establish a foreign-invested vocational training center, you must have a pre-feasibility plan on establishment of the center, which indicates:
- Type of vocational training institution to be established; its necessity and conformity with the master plan on socio-economic development and the master plan on the network of vocational education institutions approved by competent state agencies;
- Name; training objectives, tasks; plan on construction, development and training scale of the institution in each period; projected organizational structure and management and administration apparatus;
- Degrees and certificates to be granted; physical foundation and training equipment; training programs; teaching staff.
If your project registers its operation for at least 20 years in Vietnam, you are required to have a plan for physical foundation construction approved by the provincial-level People’s Committee for land allocation or land lease.
During the maximum investment period of five years, your institution must enter into a contract or an in-principle agreement on renting necessary facilities in order to provide training and make sure the physical foundation construction is in the same progress with that of the project;
In case you register your center’s operation for less than 20 years, you are not required to construct its own physical foundation, but have to enter into a contract or an agreement on renting appropriate and stable school, classrooms, workshops and auxiliary facilities for at least five years.
Secondly, your project must have an investment ratio of at least VND 60 million per student (exclusive of land use levies). The total minimum investment capital will be determined based on the number of students (converted into full-time students) at the time when the training scale is expected to peak. If you do not construct new facilities but only rent facilities or receive available facilities as capital contributed by the Vietnamese party, the investment ratio must be at least 70 percent of the aforesaid ratio.
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| British Council Director Cherry Gough and Vocational Training General Department Director Duong Duc Lan sign an MoU on development of vocational training quality assurance in some vocational colleges intensely invested to become high-quality colleges __Photo: Anh Tuan/VNA |
What documents must I prepare to be granted an investment registration certificate for establishing the vocational training center?
The dossier of application for the project’s investment registration certificate must comprise:
- An application for investment registration certificate;
- Documents certifying your legal status (an individual investor): Notarized copies of your passport or identify card or resume, and criminal record, if any;
- An techno-economic explanation indicating investment objectives, scale and location; investment capital; project implementation schedule; land use demand or agreement on renting available location or physical foundation in accordance with law; technological and environmental solutions; and proposal on investment incentives (if any);
- A pre-feasibility plan on establishment of the center;
- Documents proving your financial capacity.
After being granted an investment registration certificate, you have to prepare a dossier of application for establishing a foreign-invested vocational training institution, which comprises:
- An application for permission for establishment of a foreign-invested vocational training institution;
- A certified copy of the investment registration certificate;
- A document permitting land allocation or land lease issued by the provincial-level People’s Committee in case physical foundation construction is required (clearly indicating the address, area and boundary markers of the land plot) and an in-principle agreement on renting available physical foundation in accordance with law, and related legal documents;
- An investment project on physical foundation construction, including description and detailed design of the institution in case physical foundation construction is required;
- Documents proving financial capacity;
- A plan for establishment of the vocational training institution, which clearly indicates the name of the institution; objectives and tasks; operation scale; degrees and certificates to be granted; projected organizational structure, and management and administration apparatus; specific plan on construction, development and training scale of the institution in each period; training program; and teaching staff.
Regarding physical foundation, the land area for construction must be at least four square meters per student at the time when the training scale is expected to peak; there are sufficient classrooms and conference rooms suitable to the training scale; working offices, administrative quarters and headquarters which meet the organizational structure requirements, ensuring at least four square meters per staff member; dormitories, clubs, dining halls, technical facilities, health care, recreation, sports and culture facilities and toilets; and teaching aids, training machinery and equipment suitable to the training scale and level of each discipline or trained profession.
Training programs must have no contents which may cause harms to national defense, security and community interests, must neither propagate religions, distort history nor adversely impact the Vietnamese culture, morality, fine traditions and customs.
The teaching staff and administrators must be sufficient in quantity and suitable to the discipline structure and training levels, in which the student-teacher ratio must not exceed 25 for disciplines or professions in the fields of humanities, economics and services; 20 for techniques and technology; and 15 for disciplines which require students’ aptitude.
You should be advised that the operation duration of a foreign-invested vocational training institution must not exceed 50 years from the date of establishment. However, when necessary, the Government may decide on a longer duration not exceeding 70 years.- (VLLF)
