Vietnamlawmagazine

* Under the Regulation on application of construction regulations and standards, issued together with Construction Ministry Circular No. 18/2010/TT-BXD, from December 15 foreign construction standards may be applied to domestic construction activities or works currently subject to no national technical regulation, provided they are consistent with requirements of relevant general Vietnam standards.

For state-funded construction investment projects, priority would be given to national standards. However, if relevant national standards are unavailable, project investors may consider and ask for permission to apply foreign standards. Such standards may be applied indirectly through the observance of regulations and guidelines in which these standards are entirely or partially referred to.

* Rules on overseas remittance of profits earned by foreign investors from their investment projects in Vietnam, specified in Planning and Investment Ministry Circular No. 186/2010/TT-BTC of November 18, take effect on December 24.

Accordingly, these investors may remit overseas their profits only after submitting to local tax offices their audited financial statements and tax settlement reports for the fiscal year.

Foreign investors are disallowed to remit overseas amounts divided to them or earned from direct investment in Vietnam in the year of generation if financial statements of enterprises in which they invest in show accumulative losses. This provision helps prevent overseas remittance of profits by foreign-invested enterprises which report unreal losses to dodge tax payment.