Vietnam - Vietnamese companies rush to make re-registration to export products to US

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese exporters have been taking hectic preparations to get adapted to the US new law on food safety, showing their determination to boost exports to the market.

Gearing up in preparations

Under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), domestic and foreign production units that make, process, pack or store food for humans and animals must make re-registrations with the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration).

The new regulation would take effect from January 1, 2013.

Huynh Duc Trung, Director of Nhat Duc Company Ltd in Ca Mau province, said his company has followed the procedures for the re-registration through the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Nguyen Trung Hai, general director of Halong Canfoco Company, which specializes in making canned food products, said he has met no problem in making re-registration with the FDA, adding that this is just an administrative formality.

In registering, the production units located in the US have to give the email addresses of the representatives of the units, while the producers not in the US have to provide the email addresses of their US agents.

Le Thi Hoang Yen, Business and Production Director of Vilfood, said her company has hired a US firm to follow the registration formalities with the FDA and to act as the representative for Vilfood in the US.

The company which specializes in exporting processed seafood has been mostly exporting products to Europe, while the exports to the US just account for five percent of the company’s total exports.

However, Yen said the company still decides to make the re-registration because it attempts to penetrate more deeply into the US market.

The US has been importing food materials from Vietnam in big quantities, but it has not imported much in processed food.

Meanwhile, Hai of Canfoco said Canfoco does not hire any US firm to act as its representative in the US. It has decided to open a representative office there.

“We are considering opening a representative office in the US, which would help satisfy the requirements set by the US competent agencies and seek more US clients as well,” he said.

Regarding the expenses to run a representative office, Hai said it would cost about two billion dong a year, the sum of money, which Hai believes is nearly equal to the fee to spent to hire an US firm. Meanwhile, US firms cannot help expand the market.

Still targeting the US market

Under the new regulations, FDA would strengthen its inspection to the companies which export food products to the US.

According to David Lennarz, who was once the technique expert of FDA, now Deputy President of Registar Corp, FDA planned to conduct 1200 inspection tours to overseas production units in 2012, while the number of inspection tours is believed to double year after year.

In 2011, about 600 inspection tours were taken by FDA officials.

According to Yen, after the re-registration, food companies would be granted the registration numbers and PIN codes. In the past, the registration numbers and PIN codes were enough for Vietnamese enterprises to export food to the US.

However, with the new regulations, after granting the code numbers, if FDA finds it necessary, it would send officials to the production workshops of the manufacturers to find out if the production process can create the products that fit the US standards on food hygiene.

TBKTSG

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Cambodia - Too few businesses registered

A majority of small and medium enterprises in Cambodia were not registered, despite the advantages it offered to businesses, participants at a workshop on business registration procedure, intellectual property and business etiquette for women heard yesterday.

Referring to 2011 statistics, Chan Sorey, vice-minister of the Ministry of Women’s Aff-airs, said about 94 per cent of the estimated 505,000 enterprises in Cambodia were not registered. She said 61 per cent of these enterprises were run by women.

“Business registration is important for the development of an enterprise,” Sorey told the Phnom Penh workshop, saying it allowed enterprises to be legally protected.

The workshop was org-anised by the Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Ass-ociation and supported by the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. It included advice on how to register businesses and protect intellectual property, and  proper business etiquette.

CWEA president Seng Tak-akneary said she organised the workshop because many small and medium-sized enterprises still did not recognise the benefits of registration and intellectual property, and feared the time and costs of the registration process.

Takaneary said she wanted to increase awareness and encourage enterprises, mainly run by women, to register and make them realise that once a business was operating, it was essential to protect its intellectual property.

Mom Thana, deputy director at the Department of Intellectual Property Rights at the Ministry of Commerce, said intellectual property rights protected ideas, innovations and “what we invent”.

She said one advantage was that it allowed enterprises to have their own trademark and go to court if someone else abused that trademark.

Local entrepreneur Tev Romdoul, who runs a business with her husband, agreed that the knowledge women lacked most was about registration and intellectual property. “We always think the registration process is quite complicated,” she said.

Romdoul also said that because of their limited capital, some small enterprises were also reluctant to register and pay taxes.

According to Sou Mang, chief of bureau at the Department of Business Registration at the Ministry of Commerce, the registration of a business takes three to four days on average if all documents are correct.

Anne Renzenbrink

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/

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Myanmar - NGO Registration Law to be Drafted

The drafting of a new registration law specifically for non-governmental organizations was approved by Burma’s Lower House of Parliament on Thursday while existing legislation will also be reviewed.

Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann responded favorably to a proposal “urging the government to draft an NGO registration law commensurate with the age as the president called for cooperation with civil societies in the democratic transition.” The matter was first brought up last week by Thein Nyunt, an MP for the New National Democracy Party.

Shwe Mann instructed the Lower House Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission, Bill Committee, interested MPs and the respective ministry, “to revise the orders and regulations and to draft new legislation as necessary.” He said they should “submit the report as soon as possible assuming it as a special case” as the procedures for NGO registration should be handled smoothly.

Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Brig-Gen Kyaw Zan Myint objected to drafting a new NGO law during the debate. “There is no need to draft new legislation as the current registration law is still sophisticated and their regulations have nothing to amend.” Instead he recommended putting the matter on record.

Shwe Mann said current regulations and bylaws are insufficient and so necessary amendments needed to be made. He told MPs that the current rules, regulations and orders of the registration law “lack practicality and flexibility” as they “went beyond the purpose of the original law.”

As well as the new legislation specifically for NGOs Shwe Mann said that the existing 1988 Registration Law should also be reviewed.

“The speaker’s decision to make amendments by the parliamentary committee and parliamentarians will be effective as it would be quicker than the government drafting legislation,” Thein Nyunt added.

Thirteen lawmakers—from the main opposition National League for Democracy, National Unity Party, Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party and National Democratic Front—discussed the need to have flexible procedures for NGO registration on Wednesday and Thursday.

NGOs inside Burma have to register under the restrictive 1988 Registration Law which was enacted in September 1988, shortly after the nationwide Aug. 8 popular uprising in Burma and in time for the 1990 general election. Any associations which are not registered under this law can be charged with the Unlawful Association Act which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

Thein Nyunt said the law was enacted to restrict any organization from political activities at that time, but now the country is reforming and so the political landscape is different. He added that fresh legislation is needed as there are no specific guidelines for NGOs that would help socioeconomic development in Burma to operate officially.

Shwe Mann also pointed out the inclusion of “unpractical requirements” in the rules such as the high cost of registration. NGOs must pay 100,000 kyat (US $110) and submit report every two years under the regulations, but in reality sources say that groups must pay up to 500,000 kyat ($550) to be registered.

There are currently around 270 NGOs registered at the Ministry of Home Affairs while more than 1,000 are actually working inside Burma, according to Kyaw Zan Myint.

NYEIN NYEIN / THE IRRAWADDY

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Vietnam - Many FIEs face closure

Thousands of foreign-invested enterprises are in jeopardy because of missing a crucial investment certification re-registration deadline.

The proposal was sent in the context that there are 784 foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in the city missed the re-registration deadline on July 1, 2011 and now face having to stop operating once their investment licences expire. Some 27 FIEs must stop operating in 2012 and 174 others will share the problem in 2013 and 2014.

According to the municipal people’s committee, some typical cases in point are Taiwan-based Saigon Joubo Textile Co. Ltd, Sweden-based FKS Vietnam and Australian-backed RMIT University Vietnam. Le Manh Ha, vice chairman of the committee, said this was a big issue because most FIEs wanted to continue doing business in Vietnam.

Tran Hao Hung, head of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Department of Legislation, told VIR thousands of FIEs nationwide were in similar trouble.

According to the Law on Enterprises issued in 2005, foreign investors, who do not have their investment licences re-registered, will have to stop operation of their licenced projects once their investment licences expire without extension.

Hung said that actually, foreign investors had four years for re-registration, from 2007 to 2011, but many ignored this regulation.

“I don’t know exactly why they did not re-register their investment licences even though the government extended time for re-registration from 2009 to 2011. But now, many foreign investors are seeing the consequences of missing re-registration deadline,” said Hung.

Leaders from Hanoi and Haiphong’s departments of planning and investment also told VIR they were worried about this issue. “We have received lots of feedback from FIEs about this. Many of them are worrying whether they can keep on doing business as the expiry of operations is coming,” said Le Thanh Son, director of Haiphong Department of Planning and Investment.

Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, in its proposal to the prime minister, suggested two options. FIEs could receive certificates of operation extension or they be granted new investment certificates with new corporate names and copy all operating content of the previous certificates.

“I think this regulation of re-registration should be revised to help FIEs. The better business climate we create for foreign investors, the more the economy benefits,” said Nguyen Van Tu, deputy director of Hanoi’s Department of Planning and Investment.

Ninh Kieu | vir.com.vn

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Vietnam - FIEs may have to stop operation because of procedures

VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly 800 foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) in HCM City are facing the risk of getting dissolved or having to stop operation because they cannot make the re-registration, as requested by the 2005 Investment Law and Enterprise Law.

A lot of foreign investors try to re-register their operation in accordance with the new laws, but they still have not completed the re-registration formalities due to the technical problems.

In the document sent to the Prime Minister, HCM City authorities informed that a lot of profitable FIEs may have to stop operation in 2012. Some FIEs have even one more month to operate as written down in the investment license.

According to the HCM City People’s Committee, since July 1, 2011, the deadline for re-registration, the city has not received any applications for re-registration any longer as stipulated in the relating laws.

However, three FIEs still have requested to help them fulfill the procedures for re-registration in order to be able to extend the operation duration. These include the Saigon Joubo Textile Company, SKF Vietnam and RMIT Vietnam, an international university.

These are three cases among the FIEs which need to make re-registration in order to continue their operation but have not fulfilled the procedures.

Also according to the city’s authorities, there are 784 FIEs, or 20 percent of the enterprises still allowed to operate, which have been operating under the investment licenses granted prior to July 1, 2006.

Of this amount, 27 enterprises would have to terminate their operation in 2012 since their investment licenses would expire this year. Meanwhile, 174 more FIEs would also have to stop operation in the period from 2013 to 2020, if they cannot fulfill necessary procedures by that time.

Making a re-registration is just an administrative formality. However, if the administrative formality is not followed, FIEs would have to stop operation, when their investment licenses expire.

The FIEs established prior to July 1, 2006, which want to register more business fields and extend the operation duration are mostly the profitable ones. Big enterprises have made heavy investment in machines, technologies, equipment and infrastructure items in their long term investment plans in Vietnam. They need more time to develop their business, take back the investment capital and make profits.

The HCM City’s authorities have warned that if the 800 FIEs have to dissolve, this would have big impacts on the socio-economic life of the city and Vietnam. A lot of workers would lose jobs, which would lead to the lower state budget collection. More importantly, this would create uncertainties to the national economy and worsen the investment environment.

This does not come in line with the Vietnamese consistent policy on encouraging and supporting enterprises’ operation, so that they can make great contribution to the socio-economic development.

In the immediate time, 27 enterprises would have to stop operation because they cannot extend the licenses. This spells that the city would see the foreign direct investment capital drop by 672 million dollars and the chartered capital drop by 634 million dollars. These are really significant figures, especially when the city tries to attract more investment and needs capital.

Two solutions have been suggested to settle the problem. In the first one, the Prime Minister would allow to extend the operation of FIEs by granting new licenses adjusting the operation duration.

In this case, FIEs can continue operating in the business fields stipulated in the investment licenses granted before. However, they would not be able to enjoy the investment incentives until new regulations come out.

With the second scenario, foreign investors would be granted investment certificates on setting up businesses with new names.

Source: TBKTSG

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Vietnam - Number of newly set up businesses down, raising worries

VietNamNet Bridge – The number of newly established businesses in January 2012 decreased by 36 percent over the same period the last year. This should be seen as a worry for the national economy?


A report of the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed that in January 2012, only 4117 businesses were set up which had the total registered capital of 18,200 billion dong, a decrease of 36 percent in the number of businesses and 56 percent in the registered capital, in comparison with the same period of the last year.

The foreign direct investment (FDI) picture in January 2012 was also gloomy. The FDI registered capital in the month was just equal to 2.5 percent of the same period of the last year, even though a huge project capitalized at 575 million dollars was licensed.

The low number of newly set up businesses reflects the current difficulties of the national economy and the problems it is facing. The two latest surveys have also pointed out that the business confidence of businessmen has decreased.

In the EuroCham’s report on the business confidence index (BCI), though the index increased slightly by four points, only 39 percent of businesses said “good” or “excellent” about their business prospects. Though the figure represents a 12 percent increase in comparison with the previous quarter, it remains too low if compared with the 72 percent level of the same period in 2011.

Alan Cany, Chair of EuroCham has noted that the confidence was still far below that of the last year, which shows the uncertainties of investors about their business in the future.

The worries about the macroeconomy in Europe and in Vietnam could be the reasons that make European businesses feel less optimistic. However, the worry of European businessmen could also be the worry of other investors from the US, Japan, South Korea or Taiwan.

The same low confidence has also been reported for domestic businesses. A survey conducted by WVB Vietnam, a finance information service company, showed that the BCI in the fourth quarter of 2011 dropped sharply to 116 points from 123 points of the third quarter of 2011.

The surveys have also shown that the number of businesses that kept optimistic about the Vietnam’s economic prospects in the next 12 months, has dropped by 10.5 percent in comparison with the third quarter of 2011.

“The BCI decrease shows the insecurity of businesses amid the continued changes in the economy in the last year,” WVN commented. Businesses believe that they would still have to confront big difficulties in 2012, including high inflation, high interest rates and ineffective investments.

Not only independent surveys, but the Ministry of Planning and Investment itself has also admitted that the production and business of enterprises have still been meeting big difficulties. The pessimistic world’s economy has badly affected Vietnam’s exports and the financial market – the important channel for businesses to mobilize capital.

“Besides, the tightened fiscal policies, the tightened credit policies and the measures applied to curb inflation are all believed to hinder the capital mobilization of businesses. These are the reasons behind the sharp fall of the newly registered businesses and the increase of the dissolved businesses,” the ministry’s report reads.

The sharp decreases of the new businesses and the investment capital have raised big worries, because these are the indicators showing the dynamism of the national economy. In the long term, if the current situation cannot improve, this may lead to the weakening of the production capacity, thus causing long term consequences to the national economy.

However, Hoang Xuan Quyen, a well known economist, said that no need to get so surprised about the decrease of the number of businesses, when the global and the domestic economies both are in big difficulties with the production in stagnation because of the high inflation, high unemployment and demand decreases.

“The current decreases only reflect the cautiousness of investors in doing business in the context of high risks and low profits,” he said.

Source: TBKTVN


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Vietnam - Business registrations head south

Industry insiders are worried over a sharp decline in new businesses in 2012.

In January 2012, just 4,117 new businesses were registered to set up with around 18.2 trillion ($866.6 million) total registered capital, down 36 per cent in number and 56 per cent in capital amount against the same period in 2011, according to a Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) recent report.

The MPI attributed sharply sliding new businesses to a cold climate for firms’ production and trading activities on the back of flat world economic performance which had detrimentally affected Vietnam’s export market and financial market, a mainstream capital raising channel to firms.

“Besides, enforcement of tight fiscal policies to tame inflation has also hindered firms from getting loans. These are key reasons behind shrinking new businesses and augmenting numbers of firms going dismantled or having to shut up shop,” the report read.

Senior economic expert Hoang Xuan Quyen, however, held a different view.

Quyen assumed new firms’ retreating numbers caused no surprise to economists when the world and local economies were in the doldrums with stagnant production, soaring lending rates and unemployment, and sagging demands.

“Newly established firms factor is just a raw indicator. The quality of firms is more important,” said Quyen, adding that propitious macro-economy often entails a boom in the number of new firms parallel to risks associated with firms’ losses and bankruptcies. This was evidenced by booming presence of property and securities firms in some recent years and their current negative business performance.

“From other angle, declining new businesses reflects firms’ cautious attitudes when the business climate is full of risks with shaky profits. This is deemed by some economists as a necessary correction and a ‘positive’ prudence,” Quyen asserted.

vir.com.vn

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Brunei - New e-system makes process of business licensing easier, faster in Brunei

Bandar Seri Begawan (The Brunei Times/ANN) - The e-Government flagship project, the Business Licensing System (BLS), is aiming to be functional by the middle of this year, giving applicants a streamlined process when applying for a new business, translating to an improvement in the Sultanate's Ease of Doing Business (EODB) rank.

Government officials, Vascco Taman, Mak Hon Sheng, and Ya-Anenawati Hj Md Yusuf, of the BLS Secretariat, briefed The Brunei Times on the current status of the project, and are hopeful that the project can be in service this year.

"Currently, the BLS is in the design stage and covers three out of the nine indicators in Ease of Doing Business (EODB), which are: Starting a Business, Dealing with Construction Permit and Getting Electricity," Vascco explained.

Vascco, the project manager for the BLS, said that this new system will provide an "online single window", where applicants only need to visit one place that is related to business licensing applications

"Besides that, the BLS will provide integrated forms; information hubs; a consolidated payment and standardised processes; parallel processing; easy, 24/7 access; and greater transparency," said Vascco.

Currently, without the BLS, applicants who wish to start a business has to go to 13 different agencies (should their business require all the different licenses), to get each individual license.

Mak, who is a member of the secretariat, said that if a license is required to operate a restaurant it will be listed down as well in the system.

"Example, if a person wants to start a restaurant business, the system will show all the required licenses, like the AGC (Attorney General Chambers) for the restaurant's name, Labour Department for the workers, the need for a Halal Certification and so on," said Mak.

Several of the 13 agencies include Land Transport Department; Halal Certification from the Ministry of Religious Affairs; Labour License from the Department of Labour; Department of Water Services; Department of Electrical Services; and Miscellaneous Licenses from the Ministry of Home Affairs, to name a few.

"With the BLS, they can simply apply online or at our new Business Facilitation Centres (BFC), which will be available at all four districts, where everything can be done at one place," he said.

Vascco further added: "Our objective with the BLS is to reduce the overall timeframe taken to complete a business licensing application and improve the overall TPOR (Client Charter)."

The BLS also hopes to eliminate any redundant and inefficient internal processes, and to establish an online medium for business licensing application.

Another example Vascco gave: "If you go to the ABCI (Authority of Building Control and Construction Industry (ABCI), they have their own procedures which varies from the Municipal Board, but has the same purpose."

"With our study, we are trying to streamline this process, so applicants don't get confused and uses a standardise process," he said.

Secretariat member, Ya-Anenawati added: "For an Application of Planning Permit, if it is in Municipality jurisdiction, the application must go to the Municipal Board, or if it is outside of it, then it will go through the Town and Country Planning."

The BLS, when implemented, will eliminate the need to solve this, as it is intelligent enough to identify where the application is to be sent.

With regards to a more convenient process, Ya-Anenawati gave another example, saying if an applicant has to do 12 different visits to get a license, and go from say Muara, then the agriculture office, then back to Muara, and to customs, it's a tedious process.

"With BLS, the system will do the routing for them, so applicants will just apply online and collect the licenses when it's ready at BFC," she said.

This project is also aiming to be transparent towards potential businessmen, promising applicants the ability to track and view what the status of their current application is at.

"If it is rejected, and they wish to enquire for more information, they can still be informed about the application," he said.

The proposed BLS process will go as follows: An Applicant or Qualified Person applies to the BLS; then makes online payment; which will then be submitted to the respective departments; followed by an internal process to update the BLS status; where the final application outcome is notified to the respective applicant either by mail, e-mail and SMS; that allows a notification to the applicant to collect the physical license at the BFC.

Currently, there are 30 licenses from the various departments under the BLS and the number is expected to continue rising in the future.

The BLS is a collaborative project championed by the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources and Ministry of Home Affairs, and involves various different government and non-government agencies.

Goh De No in Bandar Seri Begawan/The Brunei Times | ANN

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Vietnam - 40 companies registered under one name

For the last two months, a man in Ho Chi Minh City has managed to register under his name nearly 40 new businesses as subsidiaries of a Da Nang-based company with dubious operation.

Early this month the municipal Tax Agency found that 31-year-old Vo Van Vi registered 37 new companies operating in many sectors under his name between September 15 and November 3.

Of these, Vi is registered as the director of 12 joint stock companies, which are all headquartered on the 31st floor of the Saigon Trade Center in District 1.

Though the municipal Department of Planning and Investment was informed, it continued to license Vi to set up two more companies later.

The 39 companies have the registered capital of VND6.6 trillion (US$316.8 million) and are subsidiaries of the VTI Group, headquartered on the 5th floor of the Indochina Riverside Tower in Da Nang.

Tran Ngoc Tam, deputy head of the municipal tax agency, said he had ordered the tax agency of District 1 to look into the case.

“[The case] is very unusual,” he said.

“Being the director of 12 joint stock companies, Vi violates the Enterprise Law.”

The tax agency said it had asked the municipal Department of Planning and Investment to handle Vi’s case in November 1 but the department had shown no response.

Companies with dubious operation

Tuoi Tre has come to the headquarters of the 39 abovementioned companies at the Saigon Trade Center and found that it was in fact a small office.

This is way different from what VTI Group says on its website. According to the website, besides two branches in HCMC and Hanoi, VTI Group also has companies operating in big cities such as New York, London, Singapore, and Sydney.

Nguyen Tuan An, who claimed to be VTI Group’s chief accountant, said it had just moved into this new office in September and there were only four people currently working there.

This is also completely different from the claim on the website that VTI’s personnel are numerous and even include foreign experts.

An said VTI Group was mainly operating in the real estate sector in Da Nang and had planned to move its headquarters to HCMC.

As for the 39 newly-registered companies, An said they were projects and “it was not the right time to implement them.”

He also boasted about a project in which VTI Group planned to buy the office building project of the Da Nang-based Indochina Riverview Tower for S$19.2 million.

But he said he had no idea where the project was situated in Da Nang. He also didn’t have any business card.

The tour organizer Duong Bay Viet Co. Ltd., one of VTI Group’s subsidiaries, was also found to be operating dubiously.

The company offers to provide domestic tourism packages, but the municipal tourism authority said it had yet been licensed to do so.

The tax authority also said the company had made no profits since it was established two years ago.

TUOI TRE

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