A reader who has email address as viettuanx @ xx asked: I have a foreign friend, planning to set up a foreign-invested company to trade real estate in Vietnam. Can a foreign-invested company trade real estate in the form of a Vietnamese enterprise?

Lawyer Nguyen Thi Trang, YouMe Law Firm answers:

Clause 3, Article 11 of the Law on Real Estate Business 2014 provides for the real estate business scope of foreign-invested enterprises as follows:

3. Foreign-invested enterprises may conduct real estate trading in the following forms:

a) Forms prescribed in Point b, d, h Clause 1 and Point b Clause 2 of this Article;

b) Build buildings on land which is leased out or transferred in industrial parks, industrial complexes, export-processing zones, hi-tech zones, or economic zone for trading for the proper land use.

Point’s b, d, h, Clause 1 and Point b, Clause 2, Article 11 of the 2014 Law on Real Estate Business provide for the real estate business scope of domestic organizations and individuals as follows:

1. Domestic organizations and individuals may conduct real estate business in the following forms:

b) Rent buildings for sublease;

d) Build houses on the land which is leased by the State for lease; build houses or constructions other than houses on such land for sale, for lease, or for lease purchase;

h) Receive total or a part of real estate project from investors to build buildings on it for sale, for lease, or for lease purchase;

2. Overseas Vietnamese may trade in real estate in the following forms:

b / For land allocated by the State, to invest in the construction of dwelling houses for sale, for lease or for lease purchase;

Thus, compared to domestic enterprises, foreign-invested enterprises are more restricted in the scope of real estate business. Foreign-invested enterprises may only trade real estate in a number of forms according to the provisions cited above.

Legal advice

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This column is done with support from YouMe Law Firm.