About Vietnam
Overview
Vietnam is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula with a total land area of 331.210 square kilometers. Vietnam has an estimated 93.7 million inhabitants as of 2018, in which 70% is in working age. It is the world’s 15th-most-populous country, and 8th-most-populous Asian country. Hanoi has been Vietnam’s capital since 1976, and Ho Chi Minh City is the biggest city in the South area.
Vietnam economy
Vietnam economy is the socialist-oriented market economy which is highly dependent on raw material exports and foreign direct investment (FDI). Vietnam has the 5th largest economy in Southeast Asia and the 44th in the world measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP). At the moment the GDP per capita of Vietnam is around 2600 USD. According to a forecast in early 2010, Vietnam would have the 28th largest economy in the world with the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) reaching over US$850 billion in 2025. By 2050, Vietnam economy will stand in the top 20 largest economies in the world, having the highest growth rates among the emerging economies and reaching 70% of the UK economy.
The investment environment in Vietnam has been attractive to foreign investors due to its openness and friendliness in management policies. Vietnam’s convenience in the traffic also plays an important role. Infrastructure projects have been prioritized by the government and are heavily invested, in order to bring high efficiency in goods circulation. Large ports such as Hai Phong Port, Quang Ninh Port (in the North), Saigon Port, Da Nang Port in the South and Central Vietnam are all equipped with modern machineries, facilitating fast transportation and smooth international trade in and out of Vietnam.
Additionally, abundant human resources and lower labor costs provide competitive advantages to enterprises in Vietnam. With continual development in various supportive industries, companies here also enjoy well-built supply chain, so that they can source locally for shortened lead time and cost optimization. Last but not least, shipping lines in Vietnam are eager to provide competitive shipping rates for this developing country, for example domestic transportation in Vietnam is more than 20% cheaper compared to similar routes of those in China and neighbor countries.
At the moment, many big corporations such as Samsung, Canon, LG, Intel … and thousands of other enterprises are investing and developing in Vietnam. The reasons behind choosing Vietnam for investment are not only due to its geographical advantages and positive business environment, but also for the preferential tax policies in Vietnam. For example, import and export tax can be exempted or reduced by the Foreign Investment Management, based on case to case evaluation for foreign invested enterprises that have business cooperation contracts with other foreign parties. Even for corporate income tax, there could be some preferential policies for new foreign invested companies (FDI). The standard corporate income tax rate for FDI is 15-25%. With preferential policies, corporate income tax can be exempted for 2 years starting from the first year the company has profit and applied 50% reduction of payable tax for 2 subsequent years.
Along with the preferential tax policies, the Vietnamese government also has preferential treatment in lots of other aspects such as customs, environment, which aim to assist and facilitate business development for long term. We sincerely hope that we can utilize the above advantages in Vietnam to help you to “light up your business” in near future.