In order to legally run a business in Vietnam, you are required to acquire a business license. Now, in Vietnam there are many forms of businesses, these include, joint ventures, private limited companies, foreign company branches, foreign owned capital, and so on. Based on the type of business you are running, you will be required to get that business license. So if you are planning to invest in the ever-growing economy of Vietnam then, first of all, you need to register your business. Afterward, you need to quickly get the business license because the faster you get the permit, the quicker you can get your operations running. With that being said, listed below are some of the business licenses in Vietnam.
Business Cooperation: The Business Cooperation is a specific type of business license that has been designed to encourage foreign traders to invest heavily in large-scaled projects in Vietnam. The investors are allowed to take their share of profits back to their home countries. All the partners are liable for all sorts of debts and are also eligible for all the profits based on the agreement made on the Business Cooperation Contract. The advantage of such a business is that foreign traders will be able to benefit more from less work. For instance, they are allowed bigger tax breaks for their investment compared to other forms of businesses. Acquiring such a license requires a written application to be sent to the correct authorities. Once granted, the permit for Business Cooperation has validity for 50 years.

Joint Venture- As the name suggests, a joint venture company is an agreement between a foreign firm and a Vietnamese company. These kinds of companies are always limited liability companies. In order to get such a business license, the foreign company should own 30 percent or more of the company. Other requirements for the license include providing the contract between the foreign investor and the local company, the charter of the joint venture company. You will also need to provide the legal documents which showcase the financial status of both parties in play. Once granted, the business permit has a validity of 50 years as was the case in Business Cooperation. However, if required then the validity could be extended to 70 years. All you have to do is provide an application stating the cause of extension.

Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOW)- Arguably the most impressive type of business that has been attracting a lot of foreign investors is the WFOW or wholly foreign-owned enterprise. This is basically the type of business where the owners are from a foreign country and the entire capital investment is foreign as well. Thereby the entire business is owned by foreign investors or foreign companies. No locals have any say in this business ownership. This type of business permit is usually needed for limited liability companies or even a shareholding company. The license is only issued once certain requirements are met including providing documents that provide the authentic source of such capital. You also need to show the feasibility of such a project before you get the permit. The license has a validity of 50 years after which it will have to be renewed.

Foreign Company Branch- Vietnam has proved to be the perfect country to expand your business in. Thus more and more international companies are investing in Vietnam to open up their company branches here. Thus the requirement for such a business permit comes in the form of a foreign company branch license.  You are only eligible to receive the branch license if you can prove that your business registration is legal, and have been registered and been operating for the last 5 years in your own country. Once you qualify, you will need to submit the certified copy of your registration,  the list of activities done in the Vietnam branch, the names of all the Vietnamese branches, the address of the local branch, and finally, the number of foreign employees working in the local branches. After submitting all these, you shall be granted the branch license within the next 15 working days.

Representative Office- There are several foreign companies who may want to set up offices in Vietnam but will not engage in any transactions or activities leading to direct revenue in Vietnam. For such companies, you will need a representative license. The application to request the representative license requires a certified copy of the company’s document of registration.  Along with that, it needs the name of the person who is representing the company in Vietnam as well as the address of the workplace place. Once all these are provided and proven to be authentic, the license shall be granted within the next 15 days.