Conditions for Vietnamese colleges to become wholly-foreign invested ones

Question: What are conditions and procedures for transforming a Vietnamese high school and college into wholly foreign invested one?

After buying shares of the Vietnamese high school and college, whether or not the foreign investor has to apply for investment certification? Whether they have to apply for establishment certification, operation permit? What are procedures?

Answer: 

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) said that Point 2, Article 25, the 2014 Law on Investment regulated foreign investors may purchase shares or capital contributions at economic organizations. 

Under Point 1, Article 46, Decree 118/2015/ND-CP on guidelines for some articles of the Law on Investment, foreign investors who make investment through capital contribution or purchase of shares/stakes of business organizations are not required to obtain Investment Certificates. 

Under the Law 03/2016/QH14 amending and supplementing Article 6 and Appendix 4 on the List of Sectors and Trades subject to conditional business investment of the Law on Investment, operation of foreign-invested educational institutions, representative offices of foreign educational institutions in Viet Nam, divisions of foreign-invested educational institutions is listed as sectors and trades subject to conditional business investment. 

Hence, after being converted into wholly-foreign invested educational institutions, pre-school education facilities, general education, and higher education must meet regulations which are stipulated in Decree 86/2018/ND-CP, dated June 6, 2018 on foreign cooperation and investment in education.

Vocational training institutions must meet regulations stipulated in the 2014 Law on Vocational Education, Decree 15/2019/ND-CP, dated February 1, 2019 on guidelines and implementation of the Law on Vocational Education, Decree 143/2016/ND-CP, dated October 14, 2016   providing guidelines and implementation of the Law on Vocational Education./.