I. Subjects Required to Apply for a Business License
Pursuant to Article 5 of Decree No. 09/2018/ND-CP, the following entities are required to obtain a Business License to conduct their business activities:
| No. | Subjects |
| 1 | Exercise of the right to retail distribution of goods, excluding: lubricants; rice; sugar; recorded media; books, newspapers, and magazines |
| 2 | Exercise of import rights and wholesale distribution rights for goods: lubricants manufactured in Vietnam; machinery, equipment, and goods using specialized lubricants that are manufactured or permitted for distribution in Vietnam |
| 3 | Exercise of the right to retail distribution of goods including: lubricants; rice; sugar; recorded media; books, newspapers, and magazines |
| 4 | Provision of logistics services, except for logistics service sub-sectors for which Vietnam has committed to market access under international treaties to which Vietnam is a party |
| 5 | Leasing of goods, excluding financial leasing; except for leasing of construction equipment with operators |
| 6 | Provision of trade promotion services, excluding advertising services |
| 7 | Provision of commercial intermediary services |
| 8 | Provision of e-commerce services |
| 9 | Provision of services for organizing bidding for goods and services |
II. Conditions for Grant of a Business License
| No. | Cases | Conditions |
| 1 | Foreign investors from countries or territories that are parties to international treaties to which Vietnam is a member and that contain market access commitments for trading in goods and activities directly related to the trading in goods | – Satisfy market access conditions under the relevant international treaties; – Have a financial plan to carry out the proposed business activities; – Have no overdue tax debts in case the entity has been established in Vietnam for one (01) year or more. |
| 2 | Foreign investors from countries or territories that are not parties to international treaties to which Vietnam is a member | – Have a financial plan to carry out the proposed business activities; – Have no overdue tax debts in case the entity has been established in Vietnam for one (01) year or more; – Satisfy the following criteria: + Compliance with specialized laws; + Consistency with the level of competition of domestic enterprises in the same sector; + Ability to create employment for domestic workers; + Ability and level of contribution to the state budget. |
| 3 | Business services not yet committed to market access under international treaties to which Vietnam is a member | – Have a financial plan to carry out the proposed business activities; – Have no overdue tax debts in case the entity has been established in Vietnam for one (01) year or more; – Satisfy the following criteria: + Compliance with specialized laws; + Consistency with the level of competition of domestic enterprises in the same sector; + Ability to create employment for domestic workers; + Ability and level of contribution to the state budget. |
| 4 | Goods not yet committed to market access under international treaties to which Vietnam is a member, including: lubricants; rice; sugar; recorded media; books, newspapers, and magazines | – Have a financial plan to carry out the proposed business activities; – Have no overdue tax debts in case the entity has been established in Vietnam for one (01) year or more; – Satisfy the following criteria: + Compliance with specialized laws; + Consistency with the level of competition of domestic enterprises in the same sector; + Ability to create employment for domestic workers; + Ability and level of contribution to the state budget. – For goods being lubricants: Consideration shall be given to granting import and wholesale distribution rights to foreign-invested economic organizations that carry out one of the following activities: + Manufacturing lubricants in Vietnam; + Manufacturing or being permitted to distribute in Vietnam machinery, equipment, and goods using specialized lubricants. – For goods being rice; sugar; recorded media; books, newspapers, and magazines: Consideration shall be given to granting retail distribution rights to foreign-invested economic organizations that already have retail establishments in the form of supermarkets, mini-supermarkets, or convenience stores for retail at such establishments. |
For the cases specified in Items 2, 3, and 4, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall consider the approval for the issuance of a Business License based on the following:
- Consistency with planning and development strategies of sectors and fields at regional and national levels;
- Vietnam’s roadmap for market access negotiations;
- Vietnam’s demand for market opening;
- Vietnam’s strategy for cooperation with foreign partners;
- Diplomatic relations, national security, social order and safety in cases where foreign investors are from countries or territories not party to international treaties to which Vietnam is a member.
III. Dossier Components
| 1 | Application for a Business License (Form No. 01 in the Appendix issued together with Decree No. 09/2018/ND-CP). |
| 2 | Explanatory document including: a) Explanation on satisfaction of the conditions for grant of a Business License as prescribed in Section II; b) Business plan: Description of business activities and methods of implementation; presentation of business and market development plans; labor demand; assessment of socio-economic impacts and efficiency of the business plan; c) Financial plan: Report on business performance based on audited financial statements of the most recent year in case the entity has been established in Vietnam for one (01) year or more; explanation on capital, capital sources, and capital mobilization plan; enclosed financial documents; d) Current status of trading in goods and activities directly related to trading in goods; financial status of the foreign-invested economic organization up to the time of application for the Business License, in cases where the Business License is applied for under the Law on Investment. |
| 3 | Documents issued by the tax authority certifying that there are no overdue tax liabilities. |
| 4 | Copies of: Enterprise Registration Certificate; Investment Registration Certificate for the project on trading in goods and activities directly related to trading in goods (if any) |
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