Synopsis of legal culture in Danang

Hello - I am moving to Danang in December to teach and I am interested in starting a business that I would need to lease building space to accommodate.

I have read up on doing this but the more I read it seems the more confused I get :)

The main thing that would help me right now is to know the legal culture on the ground out there. I have heard everything from it's a briber's paradise to stifling governmental bureaucracy (the truth is probably in the middle, huh?) that prevents Westerners from getting anything done.

Could someone provide me a brief synopsis that explains:

- Whether commercial leasing/rental approvals/licenses/regulations are applied?  Fairly?
- Objectively, what worth would you apply to hiring an attorney over there to help the process? In other words, are attorneys worth any value to retain for somethings such as what I am proposing?

Thanks in advance for any insights.

Mike

No insights, folks?

If you are talking about Da Nang in particular, the city has a reputation of being the most corruption free in the country.  The story as my wife tells it is that the city had a mayor about a decade ago who insisted on no corruption in order to turn Da Nang into a real tourist and international business destination.  Although she said that he died under somewhat mysterious circumstances, that may just be a conspiracy theory.  Perhaps one of the long time Da Nang residents, especially the locals, may know his name.  At any rate his policies reputedly carried ahead to the current administration.  There may be corruption but the reputation among Vietnamese seems to be that it is a lot less than other cities.

I have no information about setting up a business in Da Nang, but I can say that it is the only place where I have ever seen police moving around on their bikes and pulling people over for real violations rather than just setting up ticket traps to collect "donations."

Thanks for the input, Thigv.

Do you that hiring an attorney to help with some business matters is worth the cost?

Mike

Hiring an attorney when starting a business may be a necessity.  Remember that even in Da Nang were 100% corruption free, which it surely is not, you still don't speak Vietnamese.  THere are other threads on this forum about starting a business that may provide better insight.

THIGV wrote:

If you are talking about Da Nang in particular, the city has a reputation of being the most corruption free in the country.  The story as my wife tells it is that the city had a mayor about a decade ago who insisted on no corruption in order to turn Da Nang into a real tourist and international business destination.  Although she said that he died under somewhat mysterious circumstances, that may just be a conspiracy theory.  Perhaps one of the long time Da Nang residents, especially the locals, may know his name.  At any rate his policies reputedly carried ahead to the current administration.  There may be corruption but the reputation among Vietnamese seems to be that it is a lot less than other cities.

I have no information about setting up a business in Da Nang, but I can say that it is the only place where I have ever seen police moving around on their bikes and pulling people over for real violations rather than just setting up ticket traps to collect "donations."


If you follow the situation in Da Nang closely, you wouldn't name it 'the most corruption free' in Viet Nam  ;)

singuyen tranpham wrote:

If you follow the situation in Da Nang closely, you wouldn't name it 'the most corruption free' in Viet Nam  ;)


That was information that I got from my wife but it may no longer be valid.  If you live there or visit frequently, I would certainly cede to your judgement.

singuyen tranpham wrote:
THIGV wrote:

If you are talking about Da Nang in particular, the city has a reputation of being the most corruption free in the country.  The story as my wife tells it is that the city had a mayor about a decade ago who insisted on no corruption in order to turn Da Nang into a real tourist and international business destination.  Although she said that he died under somewhat mysterious circumstances, that may just be a conspiracy theory.  Perhaps one of the long time Da Nang residents, especially the locals, may know his name.  At any rate his policies reputedly carried ahead to the current administration.  There may be corruption but the reputation among Vietnamese seems to be that it is a lot less than other cities.

I have no information about setting up a business in Da Nang, but I can say that it is the only place where I have ever seen police moving around on their bikes and pulling people over for real violations rather than just setting up ticket traps to collect "donations."


If you follow the situation in Da Nang closely, you wouldn't name it 'the most corruption free' in Viet Nam  ;)


It is still much better than Ha Noi or Saigon. I can't keep up with the corruption being reported in those two cities.

I suppose that I could argue that "most corruption free" is a relative rather than an absolute measure.  It begs the question "Compared to what?"

I know of a recent corruption case in Da Nang where an expat lost millions on a largeish resort/ timeshare. Officials went to jail and he was kicked out for complaining and black banned ! Cant even return to collect his belongings !

rawene wrote:

I know of a recent corruption case in Da Nang where an expat lost millions on a largeish resort/ timeshare. Officials went to jail and he was kicked out for complaining and black banned ! Cant even return to collect his belongings !


Officials went to jail; score one for anti-corruption.  He was deported; take away one.  It sounds like there might have been a backstory.   I wonder if he just bought one unit or a whole block.  Perhaps he was somehow involved in the fraud himself.   People who are buying just one apartment may be entitled to some redress, but if you are functioning as a significant capitalist, you can't expect too much sympathy from a Communist government.   One thing you never want to do as an expat is publicly embarrass the Party.

He developed the entire project with a Vn partner..the collusion went right through from partner to bank officers to local officials ..one of whom NOW has the most senior position nationally. They went to prison for defrauding the State owned Bank in the process NOT the expat. embassies were involved in the exposure. You are right...do NOT embarrass the system publicly...but how else does one expose and stop the corruption ??

So if the expat was involved in defrauding the bank, it seems to me that he got off light with only deportation.

THIGV wrote:

So if the expat was involved in defrauding the bank, it seems to me that he got off light with only deportation.


If the expat could read and understand Vietnamese clearly, then yes.

Was the expat a Viet Kieu?

He was not involved ! He was the expat victim/ patsy !! This man lost nearly $ 10,mill !! His mistake was exposing the corruption when the bribes being demanded got ridiculous !!

rawene wrote:

He was not involved ! He was the expat victim/ patsy !! This man lost nearly $ 10,mill !! His mistake was exposing the corruption when the bribes being demanded got ridiculous !!


I always laugh when I see the "we are cracking down on corruption" spiel. They can't exist without corruption.