VietNamNet Bridge - The number of foreign-invested (FDI) companies which no longer work at their registered offices, their investors left Vietnam, or communication with the investors have been lost has increased.

Workers in these enterprises lost their jobs and their wages are unpaid while Vietnam does not have policies to support these workers.

The Binh Duong Province Tax Bureau has a list of FDI enterprises that are “lost,” for example--the Deok Chang Complex Co. Ltd., Woodus Co., Ltd. LD Scanmach Vietnam Co., Ltd., Diing Long Vietnam ... because the investors have left their companies in Vietnam secretly, leaving no trace.

Other provinces which attract large FDI capital such as HCM City and Hanoi also have long lists of such companies, for instance--Shin Cap (100 Korean own company in HCM City), Hojin Company (HCM City), Kwang Sung Vietnam (Dong Nai), Tan Dai Viet (Thai Binh), etc. In the country as a whole, by May 31, 2013, there were 518 FDI companies of this kind, with 105 and 166 in Hanoi and HCM City.

These companies mainly operate in the service fields, such as business management, construction, real estate, commerce, software, catering, restaurants...

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the majority of these companies are invested in by South Korea and China. These investors leased premises of other investors.

In most of the cases, foreign investors left Vietnam because of incurring losses. However, according to MPI, some investors after achieving the aim of raising funds and sending workers to Vietnam left the country.

Although these companies are in small scale (capital of under $500,000) the consequence left by the absence of the boss is complicated. Most companies owe social insurance or wages. However, there is no accurate statistics of the number of workers who are victims of these cases.

In addition to the consequences suffered by workers, the state authorities cannot recover investment certificates and seals.

Mr. Tran Hao Hung - Director of the Legal Affairs Department of the MPI – said that in this situation, the authorities must have solutions. However, he also acknowledged that the current law does not have provisions on recovery of investment certificates with FDI enterprises with the bosses who fled from Vietnam.

The regulations on the maximum time of temporarily closure of businesses remain unclear. It is 12 months according to Article 64 of the Law on Investment and two consecutive years in Decree 43 of the government.

Thus, the MPI has proposed to ask foreign investor to deposit for land leasing projects. The ministry also proposed to revoke investment certificates of FDI projects that do not work for six months, without report.

Lao Dong