Foreign Investment Restrictions and Business Conditions for the Commercial Intermediary Service Business in Vietnam

Table of Contents

17. Industry 6. Trade No.3

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Business Name: Commercial Intermediary Service Business

Official Business Name Under Vietnamese Law

CPC Code

VSIC Code

Agency, intermediary, and auction services for goods

None

4610

46102

Investment and Business Conditions

WTO commitments

The WTO commitments do not open the commercial intermediary service business to foreign investors or foreign-invested companies. However, as described below, this business has been opened up under domestic law, making it possible to operate a commercial intermediary service business in Vietnam. There is no issue with the entity being 100% foreign-owned.

Conditions under Vietnamese domestic law (Decree No. 09/2018/NĐ-CP, which sets out detailed rules under the Commercial Law and the Law on Foreign Trade Management applicable to the goods trading activities, and activities directly related to goods trading, of foreign investors and foreign-invested companies in Vietnam)

Obtaining an Individual License

An individual license (business license) is required in order to operate a commercial intermediary service business.

Competent authority: The Department of Industry and Trade where the company's head office is located.

Because the Department of Industry and Trade must consult the Ministry of Industry and Trade before issuing the individual license, obtaining it is relatively difficult (the processing period alone is expected to take from several months to around six months).