Summary of entity types
A company can choose from several business types when entering the Vietnam market. Establishing a company typically needs moderate amounts of investment capital and can require several months to complete all steps in the process before the company becomes operational. The investment vehicles available, include those intended for an entirely foreign-owned enterprises, joint ventures, representative offices, and others.
Each of these types are explained in the Types of Business in Vietnam guide and is suggested reading. This guide, meanwhile, focuses on comparing the entity types only via the below:
- Comparing the 6 Foreign Business Entity Types: Purposes, Pros and Cons;
- Comparing Rep Office, Branch Office vs. LLC in Vietnam: What are the Practical Differences?
Comparing the 6 foreign business entity types: Purposes, pros and cons
To help you identify which type of investment entity may be worth further consideration, the below tables present each main entity type that can be setup in Vietnam, its primary purpose, and the most notable pros and cons.
Click on the FIE Structure Type to read further details about the entity.
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Summary of 6 Type of Foreign Invested Enterprise |
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Type |
Common Purpose |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
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Easy registration procedure |
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Limited Liability Company (see 100% Foreign-Owned Enterprise)
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Separate legal entity |
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Joint-Stock Company
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Can remit profits abroad |
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Partnership of companies or individuals for specific business purposes |
Unconditional sectors not subject to specific capital requirements |
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Partnership between a foreign or domestic enterprise and a government entity for infrastructure development project purposes. |
Government aggressively pursuing PPPs to develop infrastructure |
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Comparing Rep Office, Branch Office vs. LLC in Vietnam: What are the practical differences?
The most common types of businesses that are setup by foreign investors, are
- Representative Offices,
- LLC’s and
- Branch Offices.
Assuming that one of these types is right for your investment purposes, it will remain important to consider each for its different practical aspects, such as differences in structure, legal liability, statutory compliance requirements, time required to establish, types of activities it can engage in, and more. Below is a summary comparison of these factors for these more common types of business.
For further details about these entity types, click on the FIE Structure and read our Types of Business in Vietnam guide.
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Comparison of Business Structures |
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RO Representative Office |
BO Branch Office |
LLC 100% Foreign-Owned Enterprise |
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Separate legal entity |
No |
No |
Yes |
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Liability |
Extension of parent company |
Extension of parent company |
Limited Liability |
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Naming of the Entity |
Must contain the name of the parent company |
Must contain the name of the parent company |
Can be the same or different from parent company |
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Permitted Activities |
Only market research and coordination.
No business activities that yield profit.
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Commercial activity within parent company’s scope |
Can be the same or different from the parent company |
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How many Weeks to Setup this Entity Type?
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6 to 8 weeks |
12 weeks |
8 to 16 weeks |
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Is an Annual Tax Return filing required?
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No.
Companies required to declare all employees’ Personal Income Tax (read about PIT). |
Yes |
Yes |
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Audit required?
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Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
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Summary of Pros |
Easy registration procedure |
Can remit profits abroad |
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Summary of Cons |
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For more information on these entity types, please read the related guide sections below.
