General Introduction

Background
Political and Legal Environment

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Background

1.1 Geography

The territory of Vietnam comprises a land mass of 330,000 km2, a vast sea area including a large continental shelf, and a string of archipelagos stretching from the Gulf of Tonkin to the Gulf of Thailand.

On the map, Vietnam takes an elongated "S" shape. The national territory is approximately 1,750 km long, ranging from its Northernmost point to its Southernmost point, and its width varies from 50 km to 600 km. The total inland border line is 4,230 km in length, including 1,650 km of common border with China in the North, 1,650 km with the Laos People's Democratic Republic in the West, and 930 km with Cambodia in the West and South West.

The sea area in Vietnam is to the east, the South and the South West borders on the territorial water of Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippine and Thailand. Vietnam possesses a large continental shelf, many coastal and offshore islands and archipelagos. The main islands and archipelagos are Phu Quoc Island (70 km off the Ha Tien coast), Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago (300 km off the Da Nang coast), Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago (500 km off Cam Ranh coast) and Tho Chu archipelago (200 km off the Rach Gia coast).

Vietnam has a rather diversified topography of plains, midlands, and mountains. Mountains and forests with more than 7,000 vegetable breeds make up three fourths of the area of Vietnam and can be divided into four main zones: the North-eastern mountain area, or Viet Bac; the North-western region; the North Truong Son region; and the Central Highlands. The largest and potentially most fertile plains are the Me Kong River Delta in the South and the Red River Delta in North.

The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi, which lies in the North of the country. Principal cities include Ho Chi Minh City ("HCMC") in the South, Hai Phong on the north-east coast and Da Nang, Hue and Nha Trang, all on the east coast.

1.2 Climate

Vietnam lies in the tropical monsoon zones. The typical features of this zone include warmth, humidity and abundant seasonal rainfall.

In the North, climate changes occur in four seasons: spring (from January to April), the feature of which is drizzle and constant humidity; summer (from May to July), which is hot and rainy season, autumn (from August to October) and winter (from October to early January), the season with the lowest temperatures of the year.

In the Central and the Southern parts (from Da Nang southwards), it is hot all the year round and there are only two seasons: a rainy season (from May to October), and a dry season (from October to April).

1.3 Population and Demography

The total population of Vietnam is now accounting for about 92 million (not including 4.5 million Vietnamese living abroad). The population is composed of 54 ethnic groups, of which the Viet (Kinh) accounts for 85% and lives in the deltas and coastal areas.
Distribution of population is uneven, with rural population accounting for about 80% of the total. Also, the population is not evenly distributed within the regions, Red River and Mekong River Deltas, for instance, accounting for 17% of the total land area but are home to over 41% of the total population whereas the central and northern highlands which accounts for over 48% of the total land area but have only about 21% of the total population. As for urban areas, Hanoi and HCMC, for instance, are the two largest population-density cities, with about 7.5 and 8.2 million, respectively.

The average population growth rate used to be about 2% per year which was among the highest rate in the region. Thanks to the Government's enforcement in recent years, the present population growth rate has been reduced to about 1% per year since 2009. Population growth rates are also different and vary sharply from region to region. Normally, the mountainous and rural areas have a much higher growth rate as compared with that in the urban areas, particularly in Hanoi and other principal cities.

In addition, a matter of fact is that the rate of migration to urban areas is growing significantly in recent years and expected to continue in the future, from rural to urban areas and/or big cities. The main reason is that agricultural sector becomes more mechanized while high labor demand is arising in urban areas and in industrial zones.

1.4 Language

As earlier said, although the population of Vietnam comprises a number of ethnic groups, each with its own culture and language, Vietnamese (the language of the Viet) is used as the national standard for communications among all ethnic groups in Vietnam. Although the writing is the same throughout the country, there are in fact some differences in speaking by Vietnamese between the two parts, the North and the South.

Amongst foreign languages in Vietnam, English becomes now the most common one for communications in Vietnam after a very short of time practicing here. Although it is a generalization, it is seen that French and Chinese are still quite widely spoken in Vietnam by the older generations due largely to the historical reasons. Thanks to the close co-operations between Vietnam and other former socialist countries, including Soviet Union, East Germany, etc., in the past, a number of Vietnamese can now speak and understand Russian, and German. Because of being quite common in use, English, French and/or Russian are used in support for Vietnamese, in some legal documents relevant to foreign trade and foreign direct investment. 

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Political and Legal Environment

2.1 Political and Legislative System

The Constitution in general establishes the mastery of the people under the leadership of the Communist Party, of which the highest representation is the Politburo and the Party Secretary General. The power of the people is to be exercised through the National Assembly at the central level and the People's Councils at different local levels.

The National Assembly is the supreme representative and legislative body and determines both domestic and foreign policy. It is elected by universal suffrage. The National Assembly in turn elects and may remove from office the President, Vice-President, Chairman of the National Assembly, Vice-chairman of National Assembly, members of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of the People's Supreme Court and the Head of the Supreme People's Procuracy. In addition, the National Assembly has the responsibility of sanctioning the Prime Minister's selection of Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers.

The National Assembly is also responsible for approving the organization of the Government and its agencies, and is the supreme law making body. The duration of the National Assembly is 5 years and elections are held two months prior to the expiry of its term. The Standing Committee possesses the power to manage the day-to-day affairs of the National Assembly when it is not in session and during this time the Standing Committee assumes all its powers, including the law making power on matters entrusted to it by the National Assembly.

The Head of State is the President. He is elected by the National Assembly and represents the Nation internally and externally.

The highest executive body in Vietnam is the Government, formerly known as the Council of Ministers. It is charged generally with the management of the economy and the state. It is made up of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers and the Chairmen of the various State Committees and the Governor of the State Bank. Individual ministries and organizations equivalent to ministries aid the Prime Minister in the administration of the Country within the specific fields in which they have jurisdiction. The deputy prime ministers and the ministers are selected by the Prime Minister but must be approved by the National Assembly. With the exception of the Prime Minister, the members of the Government do not have to be members of the National Assembly. Decisions on major issues must be taken on a majority basis.

Below the Government are People's Committees and People's Councils. The People's Councils are elected by the people and in turn elect the People's Committees. These bodies occur at the levels of city/province, district and commune. Each city/province, district and commune is governed by a People's Committee.

The court and prosecution systems in Vietnam have a structure similar to the administrative system. In the central level, the Supreme People's Court is the highest juridical body in Vietnam and the Chief Justice is elected by the National Assembly for the term of the National Assembly. The Supreme People's Procuracy has the highest power on prosecution in Vietnam and the Head is also elected by the National Assembly for the term of the National Assembly. In local levels, these bodies occur at the levels of city/province and district.

For information, the political system and State apparatus are outlined below:

2.2 Legal System

In Vietnam, the legal system comprises of constitution, codes, laws, ordinances, decrees, decisions, circulars, directives, and official letters, to some extent. Although all have the force of law, only a law passed by the National Assembly is referred to as such.

Ordinances are issued by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, commonly to regulate on an area where a law is not yet promulgated and/or regulated. On matters that the National Assembly entrusted to the Government, the Government issues decrees or decisions or directives to implement the issued laws or ordinances.

Circulars, decisions and regulations are normally issued by individual ministries and other State agencies including people’s committees, with respect to subjects within their sphere of responsibility and the force of subordinate legislation.

It should be noted when using that while codes, laws and ordinances are referred to by the name, decrees, decisions, circulars and directives are usually referred to by the number, signing date, and the name of issuer. 

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