MOL to establish wholly owned Vietnam agency, only second ever allowed

MOL to establish wholly owned Vietnam agency, only second ever allowed    The Vietnamese government has approved Japanese shipping line Mitsui O.S.K. Lines’ application to establish only the second ever 100 percent foreign-owned shipping agency in the South East Asian country.
   Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. will be located in Ho Chi Minh City and is expected to open for business in mid-October providing agency and freight forwarding services. MOL’s former 100 percent Vietnam-owned agency — M.O.L (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. — will be terminated and have its name cancelled for registration.
   Vietnam’s laws limit foreign investment in ocean shipping agent companies to 49 percent. In December 2005, the Japanese government signed the basic agreement for Vietnam’s membership to the WTO. At the same time, the Vietnam government gave permission for a single Japanese shipping company to establish a wholly owned subsidiary. That agreement followed a similar deal between Vietnam and Denmark in 2004, which lead to the creation of Maersk Vietnam.