Before establishing a foreign owned company, a foreign investor must have an investment project and shall carry out procedures to apply for an investment registration certificate and meet the following conditions:
- Having a charter capital holding rate as prescribed by the law
- Complying with the form of investment, scope of operation, Vietnamese partners in investment activities and meeting other conditions prescribed in treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.
Investment project means a set of proposals on using medium- or long-term capital to conduct business investment activities in a specific geographical area within a specified period of time. The investment project usually define following contents:
- Investor.
- Title of the investment project.
- Project implementation site; to-be-used land area.
- Objectives and scope of the project.
- Investment capital of the project (including capital contributed by the investor and mobilized capital) and schedule of capital contribution and raising.
- Operation duration of the project.
- Project implementation schedule: schedule of capital construction and work commission (if any); schedule of achievement of operational objectives and completion of main items of the project. If the project is divided into different stages, the certificate must also specify the objectives, duration and contents of each stage.
- Investment incentives and supports (if any) and bases and conditions for application thereof.