More foreign firms set up headquarters
HA NOI — More foreign companies are locating their Southeast Asian headquarters in Viet Nam, said the Ministry of Industry and Trade in a new report on foreign direct investment in 2009.
"This trend makes Viet Nam more prestigious in the international arena but requires strict management from local authorities to cope with trade fraud and losses in corporate income tax collections," the ministry wrote.
Distribution was the hot segment, with 169 projects granted licences last year, the report said. Of the total, 41 were new projects while 128 were existing projects seeking to add distribution to their licensed business activities. Of these, 26 were seeking authorisation to distribute consumer goods while the remainder sought to distribute machinery, equipment and raw materials for production.
Most of the foreign enterprises seeking licences in the distribution sector came from elsewhere in Asia, including Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, mainland China and Singapore.
However, twenty-five foreign firms from the US, Canada, the UK, Italy and Singapore also sought licences for franchises in such fields as food service, clothing retail and information technology. A number of these companies also established domestic enterprises to support distribution and domestic management of the franchises.
The Viet Nam Franchise Association has predicted earnings in the franchise sector would continue increase rapidly, reaching US$36 million this year. — VNS