Vietnam - Google, Facebook may be asked to open rep offices in Vietnam

Google and Facebook may have to open representative offices in Vietnam to provide their services for locals, if the Vietnamese communication ministry’s latest draft decree gets approved.

Under the draft decree announced by the Ministry of Information and Communication Friday, foreign businesses providing cross-border public information for a majority of users in Vietnam will have to establish representative offices here.

The businesses are also required to make pledges in writing to cooperate with local authorities in removing information that violates Vietnamese laws, including those that are against Vietnamese government, damage social and national security and promote violence.

Although the draft on managing the supply and use of Internet services and information is awaiting public feedback before being submitted to the government this June, many experts believe that the two giant suppliers of Internet services – Google and Facebook – will be among targeted businesses.

According to statistics from Google Southeast Asia, some 80 percent of Internet users in the region use its search service. This means that with the total of over 30 million Internet users in Vietnam, the number of Google users here can be up to more than 20 million.

Social Bakers, which provides statistics related to social network, also showed that there were more than 3.5 million Facebook users in Vietnam as of last month.

Meanwhile, ICT News Saturday quoted Luu Vu Hai, chief of the ministry’s Administration of Radio and Television – E-information, as saying that foreign businesses are only allowed to provide cross-border “Internet electronic games” for Vietnamese under contracts or through partnership with local licensed businesses.

And foreign companies’ shares are restricted to 49 percent of the partnership’s charter capital, Hai said.

On the other hand, local businesses which provide the games for Vietnamese with their servers overseas will have their licenses revoked, because it is an "act of evading taxes,” the official stressed.

Licenses for “Internet electronic games” will not be valid for more than ten years, he said.

According to the ministry’s news website, under the draft, shops providing Internet services and online games will not be allowed to open before 8 a.m. and after 10 p.m.

The shops also cannot be set up within 200 meters distance from any school.

Thanh Nien

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