* Under Decree No. 107/2009/ND-CP of November 26, 2009, which took effect on October 1, to be permitted to import or export liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), an LPG wholesaler must maintain a storage facility with a total tank capacity of 800 m3, a standard extraction (bottling) system, at least 300,000 LPG canisters up to quality standards, and set up and operate its own network of at least 20 dealers.
However, small- and medium-sized LPG companies proposed the delayed enactment or revision of the decree, saying the requirements were too high and might lead to a monopoly in the LPG market.
* As stipulated in Decree No. 88/2010/ND-CP of August 16, guiding the Intellectual Property Law and effective on October 1, plant variety patent holders are obliged to pay under agreements with variety breeders (authors) 35% (against current 30%) of after-tax royalty amounts to be collected under plant variety licensing contracts.
Royalties will be paid throughout the protection term for plant varieties (25 years for wood plants and vines and 20 years for other plants).
If patent holders do not license protected varieties to other parties but utilize them for their own production or trading, they have to pay to authors 10% of earned profits.
* From October 16, only licensed investors of housing projects may raise funds for their projects and reach agreement with capital contributors on sharing of profits and project outputs (houses or apartments).
However, investors of each project may share to each source of capital raising up to 20% of commercial houses or apartments not through a real estate trading floor.
Under Construction Ministry Circular No. 16/2010/TT-BXD of September 1, detailing the Housing Law, overseas Vietnamese only need to show permission for residence in Vietnam as defined in Decree No. 71/2010/ND-CP of June 23 to be allowed to own a home in the country. They are no longer required to have resided in Vietnam for three months or more as previously.
* Foreign investors other than securities market participants may purchase capital contributions (holdings) of members of limited liability companies or contribute capital to these companies in order to become their new members, or do so with one-member companies limited to transform them into ones with two or more members or with private enterprises to transform them into limited liability companies.
Finance Ministry Circular No. 131/2010/TT-BTC of September 6, effective on October 21, allows a foreign investor to purchase all shares of a joint-stock company in order to transform it into a limited liability company and become its owner.