Vietnam: Report on Economic Concentrations

The Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority recently published a report on Economic Concentration Control for the period July 2019- July 2021 which is available in Vietnamese and English on its website.

Some highlights of the report are as follows:

The total value of economic concentrations in Vietnam in 2019 was USD 7.2 billion which was approximately 94.7% of 2018’s total value; in contrast, the total value of economic concentrations in Vietnam in 2020 was only USD 3.5 billion;
In 2018, domestic economic concentrations (in which Vietnamese enterprises were the buyers) represented 11.8% of the total value of economic concentrations; but this increased to over 30% during the period of 2019 – 2020;
During the reported period, the Ministry of Industry and Trade received 125 economic concentration notification dossiers:
- Reporting parties included 131 foreign enterprises and 127 Vietnamese enterprises;
- 39 of these economic concentrations were carried out outside of Vietnam; notifications were submitted because one of the relevant enterprises either had (i) a commercial presence in Vietnam (including subsidiaries, branches or authorized agent); or (ii) business operations occurring in Vietnam through exporting goods or providing cross-border services into Vietnam;
Of the 125 notifications, 112 were approved after preliminary assessment and 13 were subject to official assessment;
The sector with the most notifications of economic concentrations over this period was real estate.

If you have any questions with respect to this update or any other issue in relation to Vietnam’s competition regime and its implications for your business, please feel free to contact us.

The information provided here is for information purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Legal advice should be obtained from qualified legal counsel for all specific situations.