Vietnam

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is located in Southeastern Asia bordered by Laos, Cambodia, and China. It is slightly larger than New Mexico and covers an area of 329,560 sq. kilometers. Vietnam’s total population is about 92.5 million and growing at about 1% with 31% living in urban areas. The Vietnamese capital of Hanoi has a population of about 6.23 million with other major cities including Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon, pop. 6.6 mil) and Haiphong (1.7 mil). Vietnam is a communist state where the primary language is Vietnamese and English is increasingly favored as a second language. The local currency used is the Vietnamese Dong and as of January 2008 Vietnam assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2008-2009 term.

Vietnam has gone through many hardships in the past 30 years, but has recently begun major reforms to their economy. Membership in the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) and the WTO, along with the US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade agreement, has greatly helped to improve the economic situation. Most of its trade partners are Eastern Asian countries including China, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Thailand, however 20% of its exports go to the US and 7% go to Australia. Its primary imports are machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer, steel products, raw cotton, grain, and cement. Exports consist of crude oil, marine products, rice, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, and shoes. Vietnam’s GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) is $325.9 billion and is growing at a real rate of 5% with an inflation rate of 9.1%. Vietnam ranked 99 out of 185 countries in the World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking mostly due to concerns about corruption.

Franchising Laws Overview

Disclosure laws:

Franchisors must provide prospective franchisees with a copy of the franchise agreement and “franchise description document” at least fifteen business days prior to the execution if the parties do not have some other agreement.

Relationship laws:

Must operate for at least one year before franchising.

Registration laws:

Franchisors must register with the Ministry of Trade prior to commencing franchising.

Click the links below for articles with more information on Franchising in Vietnam

Doing Business in Vietnam (2013)

Trade Mission Generates Excitement for U.S. Brands (2012)

US Commercial Service Franchise Market Report (2011)

Vietnam: Ready for Franchising (2009)

News From Around the World: Developments in Asia (2008)

Franchising Rides Waves of Economic Expansion in Asia and Pacific Rim (2007)

* CPI Score is published by Transparency International and relates to the perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between 100 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).

**Ease of Doing Business Ranking is determined by the World Bank Group and is ranked out of a possible 185 countries. www.doingbusiness.org

Most recent statistics have been taken from the CIA World Factbook unless noted otherwise.

International Franchising Opportunities

After you have finished researching the international markets, learning international expansion strategies and best practices, and understanding the basics of international franchising law, IFA provides numerous opportunities for franchising internationally.