Today, quite a few companies have established representative office in Vietnam to facilitate their business. It is statistically reported that there were more than 1,000 representative offices in Ho Chi Minh City and this number would soar in the future. Representative office is suitable for those companies in need of just a work stead to support transactions. Many foreign investors establish representative office in Vietnam to make their transactions with partners more effective.

1. What is a representative office?

Representative office is a dependent unit of an enterprise, established in accordance with the laws of Vietnam. The representative office exercises benefits of the enterprise and operates in accordance with enterprise’s scope of operation. The main purpose of a representative office is to maintain the liaison, assist the enterprise in approaching business partners in Vietnam, and conduct market researches. A representative office may not enter into any contracts at their own decision, but the enterprise must authorize the representative office and provide its seal.

A representative office may not perform activities that generate direct profits. It is the enterprise to bear financial problems as incurred.

2. Why should a representative office be established?

Although many businesses open representative offices in Vietnam in order to facilitate the transactions with customers in a new market, representative offices, in deed, benefits more than that. Representative office will help foreign enterprise research and gain insight into the market. Those investors backed by a Vietnam-based representative office will have the opportunity to read customers, figure out market habits, and access potential partners, thereby enhancing chances for market expansion.

3. Steps to established representative office in Vietnam

Step 1: Prepare paperwork in accordance with regulations

A representative office need to prepare documents in accordance with the laws of Vietnam:

• Copy of the parent company’s Business Registration Certificate
• Copy of the representative’s personal authentication material
• Evidence to the registered address of establishment        

Step 2: Submit the application

Upon completion of all documents, the enterprise will submit its application.

There are two ways of application submission: online and offline.

• For online submission, the required documents shall be attached and submitted directly to the government’s portal.
• For offline submission, the office’s representative will submit the application at the Business Registration Division where the office operates. When the application submission is completed, the enterprise will take a receipt and pend for the result.

Step 3: Get result

Normally, if its application is eligible, the enterprise will receive a certificate within 3 days. For those submitting electronically, they shall present the hard copy of documents when receiving the certificate.

If the application is incomplete or contains errors, the enterprise will receive a request for supplementation.

Investors green to the regulations and administrative procedures to establish representative office in Vietnam may find themselves wasting time repeating the paperwork. To avoid this, they should buy a full package service of consultancy and application from investment consulting firms. Viettonkin has successfully given investment advices to more than 2,000 projects and provided full-package supports to foreign investors in Vietnam. Empowered by well-established experiences in supporting foreign businesses, and a team of well-seasoned, highly qualified staffs, Viettonkin will assure you the fastest and most effective completion of investment procedures.