Công ty dịch vụ luật Apolat Legal

Recently, Lawyer Pham Hong Manh, Managing Partner at Apolat Legal, served as a key speaker at the webinar titled “Navigating Vietnam’s New Digital Finance Landscape: Understanding Key Decrees, Sandbox, and Crypto/Digital Asset Regulations,” co-organized by the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) and VietCham Singapore.  With professional support from Tran Chau Hoai Han (Counsel) and Luong Nguyen An Nhien (Paralegal), Lawyer Manh shared crucial insights on:  An overview of four pivotal Resolutions (Resolution No. 57, 59, 66, and 68-NQ/TW of the Politburo), focusing on regulations directly related to cryptocurrencies and digital assets.  Vietnam’s legal orientation and new management trends in this sector.  Key legal considerations regarding cryptocurrencies and digital assets that Singaporean investors should particularly note when exploring and entering the Vietnamese market.  The event provided essential updates on Vietnam’s legal environment for F...

The Right to Disconnect has garnered significant global attention over the past two decades and has become one of the most formally recognized labor rights in multiple jurisdictions. This right refers to an employee’s right to be able to disengage from work and refrain from engaging in work-related electronic communications, such as emails, telephone calls or other messages, outside normal working hours.(1) On August 26, 2024, the Right to Disconnect was officially enacted in Australia, further strengthening the global movement toward the legal recognition of this right.  The legal foundation of the Right to Disconnect is believed to have originated from a ruling by the French Court of Appeal in 2001, which affirmed that employees were not obligated to perform work-related duties from home.(2) In 2016, France became the first country to formally legislate this right as part of its Labor Code reforms.(3) Following France’s precedent, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, and Ireland hav...

An electronic visa (e-visa), designated with the signal of EV, is a type of visa issued by the competent Vietnamese authorities through electronic transactions, allowing foreigners to enter Vietnam. According to the law, foreigners granted an e-visa may enter Vietnam for legally permitted purposes, with a maximum visa validity of 90 days (Clause 2, Article 9 of the Law on entry, exit, transit, and residence of foreigners in Vietnam).  This article analyzes the legal regulations and practical cases related to foreigners using an e-visa to enter Vietnam for working purposes.  1. Foreigners using an e-visa to enter Vietnam for employment   According to Point đ, Clause 6, Article 18 of Decree 144/2021/ND-CP, organizations and entities employing foreign workers must sponsor them for visa and temporary residence card issuance. In other words, in all cases, an employer must sponsor a foreign worker’s entry into Vietnam for employment purposes, even if the worker will only be ...

The duration of an investment project is one of the important factors determining the feasibility and long-term effectiveness of the project. In particular, for factory projects, the investment duration affects the investor’s financial strategy and is also related to the locality’s planning and socio-economic development policies. Therefore, when the project duration is about to end, the investor can request an extension of operation to continue production and business. The extension process must comply with current legal regulations and meet many specific conditions.  1. Duration of a manufacturing plant investment project   The duration of a manufacturing plant investment project in Vietnam is determined based on many factors, including the location of the investment project, the business sector and the economic development policy of each region. Specifically:  Normal duration: the duration of investment projects outside the economic zone is usually 50 years , and w...

Compared to the Bidding Law 2013, the Bidding Law 2023 expands its subjects of application to include bidding packages of enterprises with 100% of charter capital held by state enterprises. This change has garnered significant attention from investors, especially as the number of bidding packages by subsidiaries of state enterprises continues to grow. These packages often impose strict requirements on the investor’s capabilities. Most small and medium-sized enterprises cannot meet these strict requirements, leading to the widespread practice of consortium bidding. However, many consortium investors remain unclear about the penalty regulations for breaches in bidding activities. Against this backdrop, this article aims to analyze critical aspects of contractual penalty clauses in bidding activities.  1. Regarding penalty level   Firstly, bidding activities are considered commercial activities and are governed by commercial law, as the parties involved in bidding typically ai...

While providing legal advisory services for manufacturing projects in Viet Nam, Apolat Legal recently assisted a foreign invested enterprise in establishing a packaged food manufacturing factory for business operations in Viet Nam. We have observed that many foreign investors have a general understanding of legal regulations related to investment, company establishment, and factory construction. However, they often fail to anticipate or engage an inexperienced consulting firm regarding the specific sectoral requirements, resulting in non-compliance with legal conditions necessary for official operations.    For food manufacturing projects, beyond investment procedures, enterprises must comply with specific safety food conditions applicable to both the manufacturing facilities and its products. In this article, we outline key legal considerations that investors should be aware of when implementing packaged food manufacturing projects in Viet Nam.   1. Conditions for...

In the era of borderless economy, cross-border trade between Vietnamese and foreign businesses is increasingly common. This naturally leads to an increase in commercial disputes. Under Vietnam’s civil procedure law, civil cases, including commercial disputes, involving at least one foreign party are considered civil cases with foreign elements. This article focuses on key considerations for foreign individuals or companies when initiating a lawsuit in Vietnam.  1. Does the Vietnamese court have jurisdiction?  To avoid having the lawsuit petition dismissed or suspended, before filing a lawsuit, it’s crucial to ensure the Vietnamese Court has the authority to hear the case.   According to the provisions of the Vietnamese Civil Procedure Code 2015 (“ CPC ”), civil cases in general and business and commercial cases in particular in which at least one of the parties is a foreign entity are considered civil cases with foreign elements.  A business and commercial case...

According to the 2024 investment report, China leads in the number of new investment projects (accounting for 28.3% of total investment projects in Vietnam) and ranks third in total investment capital (USD 4,732.1 million). This demonstrates Vietnam’s openness to welcoming projects from Chinese investors and highlights the growing wave of Chinese investments into Vietnam.  Among these, the industrial, processing, and manufacturing sectors account for the highest proportion of investment, making up 66.9% compared to other business sectors.  Thus, the decision by Chinese investors to choose Vietnam as a destination to establish and operate furniture manufacturing factories is full of potential and advantages.  This article aims to provide Chinese investors with an overview of the legal framework and basic regulations to keep in mind when establishing furniture manufacturing factories in Vietnam.  1. Legal Framework Governing Investment and Manufacturing Activities ...