THE
GOVERNMENT
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SOCIALIST
REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM
Independence - Freedom – Happiness
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No. 08/1998/ND-CP
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Hanoi, January
22, 1998
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DECREE
PROMULGATING THE
REGULATION ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ASSOCIATIONS OF FOREIGN BUSINESSES IN
VIETNAM
THE GOVERNMENT
Pursuant
to the Law on Organization of the Government of September 30, 1992;
In order to create favorable conditions for foreign businesses to conduct
commercial and investment activities in Vietnam;
At the proposals of the Minister of Planning and Investment, the Minister of
Trade and the Head of the Working Commission for Non-governmental
Organizations,
DECREES:
Article 1.-
To promulgate together with this Decree the Regulation on the establishment of
associations of foreign businesses in Vietnam.
Article 2.-
This Decree takes effect 15 days after its signing.
According their assigned State management
functions, the Minister of Planning and Investment, the Minister of Trade and
the Head of the Working Commission for Non-governmental Organizations shall
have to guide and inspect the implementation of the Regulation attached to this
Decree.
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ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT
THE PRIME MINISTER
Phan Van Khai
THE REGULATION
ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ASSOCIATIONS OF
FOREIGN BUSINESSES IN VIETNAM
(Promulgated
together with Decree No.08/1998/ND-CP of January 22, 1998 of the Government)
Article
1.- To allow foreign businesses which have already been licensed to conduct
commercial, investment and service activities in Vietnam, fully qualified and
accept the provisions of this Regulation, to establish associations or clubs of
foreign businesses in Vietnam (hereafter referred to as the association).
Article 2.-
Associations shall be established on the basis of voluntariness, as
non-governmental, non-political and non-mercenary organizations.
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Article 3.-
The conditions for the establishment of an association:
1. There are at least 30 representatives from
businesses of the same nationality or originated from an international or
regional organization.
2. Each community of foreign businesses of the
same nationality or originated from an international or regional organization
operating in Vietnam shall be entitled to establish only one association in
Vietnam, whose headquarters shall be set up and registered at a Vietnamese
province or city directly under the Central Government.
Article 4.-
The contents of an association's activities:
1. Organizing the internal information
activities;
2. Organizing activities to probe into trade and
investment opportunities;
3. Taking part in trade and investment promotion
activities organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry or other
Vietnamese agencies;
4. Organizing meetings between its members and
Vietnamese State management agencies on commercial, investment and service
matters;
5. The leading board of the association is
entitled to represent the association in proposing recommendations and measures
to Vietnamese State management agencies in order to protect the legitimate
interests of its member businesses and contribute to the creation of a healthy
business environment;
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Article
5.- The dossier of application for a permit to establish an association
shall be submitted to the People's Committee of the province or city directly
under the Central Government, where the association is to be set up. The
dossier shall comprise:
1. The application for a permit to establish the
association (one copy in Vietnamese and another in a commonly used foreign
language);
2. The operation statute of the association;
3. A written recommendation from the Vietnam
Chamber of Commerce and Industry;
4. The documents on the working office of the
association;
5. The curricula vitae of the members of the
leading board of the association;
6. The list of the representatives of businesses
to join the association (their full names, their passport numbers, their places
of registered temporary residence in Vietnam).
Article 6.-
Within 30 days from the date of receiving in full the valid dossier, the
concerned People's Committee of the province or city directly under the Central
Government shall have to reply (whether or not to grant the permit) to the
foreign businesses that apply for the permit to establish the association. Such
permit shall be valid for 5 years from the date of its issuance and shall be
considered for extension and each extension shall not exceed 3 years.
Three months before the permit expires, the
association, if wishing to continue its operation, shall send an application
for extension to the agency that has granted the establishment permit. The
agency that has received the application shall have to complete procedures and
reply the concerned parties within 30 days.
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Article 8.-
Within 30 days from the date of granting the permit or approving the supplement
thereto, the association shall have to publish on central and local newspapers
the following contents:
- The name of the association (in Vietnamese and
in a commonly used foreign language);
- The establishment permit (the serial number,
the granting date and agency);
- The representative (the President or the Secretary
General of the association);
- The location of the headquarters (the house
number, the name of street...);
- The serial number of its account at a
transaction bank;
- The telephone and fax numbers.
Article 9.-
The rights and obligations of an association after its establishment:
1. To open a transaction account at a commercial
bank. This account shall be used only for administrative activities of the
association as defined in Article 4 of this Regulation;
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3. To have its own seal (if necessary). The seal
shall be made in accordance with the regulations of Vietnam's Ministry of the
Interior;
4. To import office equipment and working
facilities in accordance with the provisions of the Vietnamese law applicable
to the representative offices of the foreign economic organizations in Vietnam;
5. The association shall have to report its
operation every 6 months or year or irregularly at the request of the People's
Committee of the province or city directly under the Central Government, that
has granted the permit.
Article
10.- The People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the
Central Government where the foreign businesses' associations are registered,
shall have to supervise the observance of Vietnamese law and provisions of this
Regulation by the foreign businesses' associations. After granting permits, the
People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central
Government shall have to send the copies of such permits to the Ministry of
Trade, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Working Commission for
Non-governmental Organizations, and at the same time biannually and annually
send sum-up reports on the operation of the foreign businesses' associations in
their respective localities to the three above-said agencies.
Article
11.-
1. An association shall terminate its operation
in the following cases:
- Its permit expires and no extension is
permitted;
- Its permit is withdrawn before schedule due to
serious violations of Vietnamese laws;
- The voluntary dissolution of the association.
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Article
12.-
1. The associations' operations which are
inconsistent with the granted permits or violate the provisions of this
Regulation shall, depending on the seriousness of the violations, be subject to
sanctions under the provisions of the Ordinance on the Handling of
Administrative Violations, to temporary suspension of operations or withdrawal
of permits. The presidents of the concerned People's Committees of the
provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall issue handling
decisions to suspend operations and withdraw permits.
2. Members of an association and employees
working at its office, who commit acts of violating Vietnamese laws, shall be
handled in accordance with Vietnamese law.