Investment Guarantee and Protection

Foreign entities investing in Vietnam are guaranteed fair and reasonable treatment while operating in Vietnam, including guarantees in respect of their assets, intellectual property rights, market accession under commitments, repatriation of income and capital, enjoyment of unified fees, charges and dispute settlement. The IL contains a provision to guarantee the interests of investors in cases where a change in law adversely affects the benefits or incentives enjoyed by the investor. In such cases, one of the following methods shall apply:

• the continuation of enjoyment of benefits and incentives;
• deduction of the loss from taxable income;
• a change of the operational objective of the project;
• in the necessary circumstances, compensation shall be paid.

Vietnam has signed investment promotion and protection agreements with 50 countries and territories, including Australia, Belgium, China, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Korea (ROK), Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, the Slovak Republic, Thailand and Uzbekistan.

The European Union signed an additional investment treaty with Vietnam, whereby its Member States are to be treated at least as favourably as under the investment treaty between Vietnam and Japan.

Vietnam is a member of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank.

Vietnam has consolidated regulations on intellectual property rights – the Intellectual Property Law (IPL) sets out regulations on copyright, industrial property rights, plant varieties and policies, procedures and protection measures.

The periods of protection granted are generally as follows:

• inventions: 20 years from filing date;
• utility solution: 10 years;
• industrial design: 5 years, further extendable for two consecutive periods of 5 years each; and
• trademark: 10 years, renewable for subsequent 10 years renewal periods.

Upon accession to the WTO, Vietnam agreed to implement the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). In addition, Vietnam signed the Berne Convention in 2004 for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and ratified the Madrid Protocol in 2006. Based on international conventions in the field of intellectual property right protection, the important principles of first-to-file and priority has been adopted by the Vietnamese laws, facilitating the administrative procedure of requesting for protection of these rights.

Article 35 of Law 68/2014/QH13, dated 26 November 2014, on Enterprise of the National Assembly allows an investor to contribute intellectual property rights as capital to an enterprise.

Furthermore, under the new Customs Law, customs procedures for imports and exports that infringe on intellectual property rights will be suspended.