Chương 1 Luật đầu tư nước ngoài tại Việt Nam 1996: Những quy định chung

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.- The State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam encourages foreign investors to invest in Vietnam on the basis of respect for the independence, sovereignty of Vietnam, observance of Vietnamese laws, equality and mutual benefits.

The State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam guarantees the ownership of the investment capital and other legitimate interests of foreign investors; provide favorable conditions and simple and expeditious procedures for foreign investors in Vietnam.

Article 2.- The following terms in this Law shall be construed as follows:

1. "Foreign direct investment" means the transfer of capital in money or any asset into Vietnam by foreign investors to carry out investment activities in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

2. "Foreign investor" means a foreign economic organization or a foreign individual investing in Vietnam.

3. "Foreign party" means a party consisting of one or more foreign investors.

4. "Vietnamese party" means a party consisting of one or more Vietnamese enterprises from all economic sectors.

5. "The two parties" means the Vietnamese party and the foreign party.

"Multi-party" means the Vietnamese party and more than one foreign party or the foreign party and more than one Vietnamese party or more than one Vietnamese party and more than one foreign party.

6. "Enterprises with foreign invested capital" are joint venture enterprises and enterprises with 100% foreign invested capital.

7. A "joint venture enterprise" means an enterprise established in Vietnam through the cooperation between two or more parties under a joint venture contract or an agreement signed by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and a foreign Government or between an enterprise with foreign invested capital and a Vietnamese enterprise or between a joint venture enterprise and a foreign investor under a joint venture contract.

8. "Enterprises with 100% foreign invested capital" means an enterprise the capital of which is 100% invested in Vietnam by a foreign investor.

9. "Business cooperation contract" means a document signed by two or more parties for carrying out investment activities without establishing a legal person.

10. A "joint venture contract" means a document signed by the parties mentioned in Point 7 of this Article for the establishment of a joint venture enterprise in Vietnam.

11. "Build-Operate-Transfer contract" means a document signed by a competent State agency of Vietnam and a foreign investor for the construction and operation of an infrastructure project within a certain period of time; upon the expiry of the period, the foreign investor shall transfer, without indemnification, the project to the State of Vietnam.

12. "Build-Transfer-Operate contract" means a document signed by a competent State agency of Vietnam and a foreign investor for the construction of an infrastructure project; upon the completion of the after construction the foreign investor shall transfer the project to the State of Vietnam. The Government of Vietnam shall give the investor the right to operate the project within a certain period of time so as to retrieve his/her invested capital and earn reasonable profits.

13. "Build-Transfer contract" is a document signed by a competent State agency of Vietnam and a foreign investor for the construction of an infrastructure project; upon the completion of the construction, the foreign investor shall transfer the project to the State of Vietnam. The Government of Vietnam shall provide conditions for the foreign investor to carry out another project so as to retrieve his/her invested capital and earn reasonable profits.

14. "Export Processing Zone" is an industrial zone having delimited geographical boundaries, established by or under the permission of the Government, specializing in the production of goods for export and in the provision of services for the production of export goods and export activities.

15. "Export Processing Enterprise" is an enterprise established by the Government and operating under the Government’s stipulations on export processing enterprises, specializing in the production of export goods, in the provision of services for the production of export goods and export activities.

16. "Industrial Zone" is a zone having delimited geographical boundaries, established by or under the permission of the Government, specializing in the production of industrial goods and in the provision of services for industrial production.

17. "Industrial Zone Enterprise" is an enterprise established and operating within an Industrial Zone.

18. "Invested capital" means the capital for carrying out an investment project, including the prescribed capital and borrowed capital.

19. The "Prescribed capital" of an enterprise with foreign invested capital is the amount of capital required for establishing the enterprise as stated in the enterprise's Statute.

21. "Capital contribution" is the capital contributed by each party to the prescribed capital of the enterprise.

21. "Reinvestment" means the use of profits and other legitimate earnings from investment activities in Vietnam to invest in an on-going or new project in Vietnam in the investment forms prescribed in this Law.

Article 3.- Foreign investors may invest in Vietnam in any sector of the national economy.

The State of Vietnam shall encourage foreign investors to invest in the following domains and geographical areas:

1. Domains:

a/ The production of goods for export;

b/ The raising, planting and processing of agricultural, forestry and aquatic products;

c/ The use of hi-tech and state-of-the-art technologies, protection of the ecological environment, investment in research and development;

d/ Intensive labor employment, processing of raw materials and efficient utilization of natural resources in Vietnam;

e/ Constructing infrastructure projects and important industrial production establishments.

2. Geographical areas:

a/ Mountainous, deep-lying and remote areas;

b/ Areas with difficult socio-economic conditions.

The State of Vietnam shall not permit foreign investment in such domains and geographical areas that may damage national defense and security, the historical and cultural relics, the fine traditions and customs, the environment and ecology.

Basing itself on the development planning and orientations for each period, the Government shall define the geographical areas where investment is encouraged, promulgate a list of projects in which investment is or is specially encouraged, a list of domains of conditional investment and a list of domains in which foreign investment is not permitted.

Private Vietnamese economic organizations shall be allowed to enter into investment cooperation with foreign investors in the domains and under the conditions stipulated by the Government.