With the current drastic increase in the number of COVID-19 infections in Cambodia and to help prevent the spread of contagious diseases, the Royal Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia enacted the Law on Measures to Prevent COVID-19 and Other Fatal and Harmful Diseases on 11 March 2021 (the “COVID Law”) and Sub-Decree No. 37 […]

The Ministry of Commerce (“MOC”) recently issued Newsletter no.02/2021, dated 3 March 2021, (“Newsletter 2”) granting a temporary exemption for obtaining import/export licenses when importing/exporting certain goods into or out of Myanmar due to the current situation in the country. According to the list of goods included in the Newsletter 2, there are 72 items […]

The richness of Cambodia’s soil makes rubber plantations a popular investment in the Kingdom of Cambodia. Seeing the potential growth in this sector, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery (“MAFF”) recently issued a new Prakas on the Application Procedure for Establishing and Operating Rubber and Rubberwood Processing Factories and Handicraft Enterprises (no. 040 BrK. […]

今天看到了新的《土地法》的生效 2019年6月21日第70 / NA号《 2019年土地法》，除其他外，包括有关的新规定土地使用权的有限所有权由在某些情况下的外国人与个人单位的有限所有权在康斗和公寓楼，这取代了旧法律可以追溯到2003年。我们在下面概述了2019年《土地法》的一些关键新规定： 土地使用权的外资持股 现在老挝政府允许外国人购买土地使用权的有限所有权在州土地上长达50年，可扩展的(“临时所有权”)。临时所有权是仅允许用于特定开发目的康斗和公寓楼，要么是其他住宅 要么是商业综合体。临时所有权也适用于老挝国民，我们希望他们更少能利用它，因为他们有权持有更具吸引力的永久土地使用权。 临时所有权下的合法权利 临时所有权是指 外国开发商将不再只能通过特许权和租赁获得土地。此外，他们将拥有转移的合法权利，抵押，或遗赠 他们对土地和建筑物的权利，尽管仅在临时所有权的剩余期限内。更重要的是，他们将有权将建筑物各个单元的所有权出售或转让给潜在的购买者（老挝和外国人）。我们了解这些规定是旨在允许私人开发商用州土地发展最先进的技术康斗 和 商业建筑 并出售或租赁各个单位（下一节将讨论各个单位的所有权）。正如您可从以上看到的，外国人不能向老挝人购买私人土地的有限所有权。 附加注册要求 购买临时所有权以建造康斗或公寓楼的外国开发商，必须，除了获得投资许可证和建筑许可证外，将土地注册为 “康斗建设用地” 在施工开始之前与有关土地管理当局。 共管康斗或公寓建筑中的个体单位所有权 2019年《土地法》赋予老挝和外国公民购买建筑物的单位的权利，这些房屋的使用，出售，租赁，抵押权，并以类似于转让老挝国民私人拥有的土地的永久土地使用权的方式来继承单位的所有权。但是，单位的所有权不是永久的。 根据我们的理解，单位的所有权期限取决于建设用地所有权的性质。在此基础上，各个单位的所有权可以大致分为以下几种类型： 卖方是老挝开发商，拥有建筑用地 在这种情况下，老挝国民和外国人都可以在单位使用寿命内购买单位。根据《 2019年土地法》未定义“寿命”一词，因此，目前尚不清楚它是否指的是设备的实际寿命，设计或施工计划中指定的单元的预期寿命，或买卖合同中单位共同商定的寿命。 卖方是老挝或具有临时所有权的外国开发商 尽管《 2019年土地法》规定，拥有临时所有权的卖方的单个单位的购买者在单位使用寿命内享有所有权，尚不清楚单位购买者的实际所有权是否可以超过临时所有权的期限 （ 从获得所有权之日起算，最长为50年，包括建设期 ）。在这种情况下，民法原则可能：“一个人所转让的权利不能超过一个人拥有” (Nemo dat quod non habet; nemo plus iuris ad alium transferre potest quam ipse habet) 将应用，并且单位的所有权期限将限于剩余的临时所有权期限。 各个单位的购买者必须向有关的老挝土地管理当局注册所有权。 其他规定 与旧法律不同的是，2019年《土地法》在租用和特许国有土地的期限方面不再按国籍或居住地身份进行区分，根据项目或业务的性质，规模和具体情况，所有承租人和特许经营者现在最多可以使用50年。此外，尽管新法律很少详细说明如何进行租赁和特许经营，但现在必须进行招标程序。 除了上述新规定外，2019年《土地法》还提供了一个新的计算机化的国家土地所有权数据库，公众只需支付少量费用即可访问该数据库。 本文旨在概述老挝人民民主共和国的新土地法律，仅出于一般目的，因此，本文中的内容不得解释为任何特定问题或情况的法律建议或替代法律建议。 我们将在新的2019年《土地法》付诸实施时提供进一步的见解，并将就其出台的任何相关从属法律进行报告。有关2019年《土地法》的更多信息，或对老挝人民民主共和国的法律和法规环境有任何其他疑问，请随时通过VDB Loi老挝办事处与我们联系： Daodeuane […]

Under the Ministry of Labor, Immigration, and Population Notification No 140/2017, in addition to it being an obligatory requirement that the employment contract (the “EC”) is executed with employers having more than five employees, it is also subject to approval from the relevant township or district labor exchange office. Until recently, the EC registration requirement […]

With Lao PDR acceding to the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) in 2013 and subsequently ratifying the Trade Facilitation Agreement (“TFA”), which came into force in February 2017, the Lao government has been busy formulating and enacting legislations to meets its WTO commitments and to improve the ease of doing business despite the prevailing challenges, notably […]

Not only natural persons (individuals) but also legal persons, such as companies, NGOs, associations, and foundations operating in the Lao PDR, now face criminal liability under new legislation enacted by the government aimed at strengthening the rule of law in the country. Prior to the entry into force of the 2018 Penal Code, only natural […]

Clients have been often raising queries relating to the process and actions required to arrange for a travel to Myanmar by an expatriate employee. There are many cases when people have been outside of Myanmar since the beginning of 2020. For many, their previously issued Myanmar visas are about to expire. Although modern technology allows […]

In response to several COVID incidents linked to international travel and foreign diplomats, the Cambodian Ministry of Health is sharpening the measures applicable to most international travelers arriving in the country.

For approximately 4,000 types of goods, import licenses are required in order to import these products into Myanmar as per the new Notification 68/2020, dated 22 October 2020, (“Notification 68”) issued by the Ministry of Commerce (“MOC”). Notification 68 has revoked the MOC’s previous notification 22/2019, dated 21 May 2019 (“Notification 22”) regarding the list […]

As a follow up to our email earlier this year about the soft-opening period for the reregistration of trademarks, please note that the Ministry of Commerce (“MOC”) has issued order 63/2020, dated 28 August 2020, in relation to the implementation of the online system for reregistration of trademarks that will start from 1 October 2020 (“Order”). According […]

Employers should be aware that 2021 labor compliance deadlines are approaching. The period to apply to the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training (“MLVT”) for the 2021 quota approval for foreign employees is now open and runs from 1 September 2020 to 30 November 2020. Applications for work permit renewals for 2021 are to be […]

Today sees the entry into force of the new Law on Land No. 70/NA dated 21 June 2019 (the “2019 Land Law”), which among other things, includes new provisions concerning the limited ownership of land-use rights by foreigners under certain circumstances, and the limited ownership of individual units in a condominium or apartment building. This […]

The Law on Insurance (amended) No. 78/NA dated 29 November 2019, (the “Amended Insurance Law”) came into effect on 14 April 2020, after it was promulgated by the President of the Lao PDR on 10 January 2020 and published in the Official Gazette on 30 March 2020. The Amended Insurance Law has effectuated several major […]

The use of a Multi-level Marketing (“MLM”) business model has been banned since 2018 by way of Notification 46/2018, dated 18 September 2018, issued by the Ministry of Commerce as a result of an audit of several MLM companies by the authorities. Due to the absence of specific laws and regulations on MLM, the restrictive […]

The Corona Pandemic hits Myanmar nearly at the same time as the new Insolvency Law 2020 (“the IL” was enacted on 14 February 2020). We all hope that the damage to the Myanmar economy will be as limited as possible, but it does not hurt to prepare for tough times ahead. Highlights of this note […]

The Ministry of Commerce (“MOC”) issued its new Notification 38/2020 on 25 May 2020 (“Notification 38”), allowing the importation of foreign alcohol and ending a decades-old ban in Myanmar. This is the second instance of the ban being relaxed, following the first time in 2015 when the MOC allowed local importers to import foreign wine […]

On 20 May 2020, Cambodia’s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation issued new rules for international travelers arriving in Cambodia. The new regulation addresses the problem of Cambodian and overseas nationals coming (back) to the country during the pandemic. A Cambodian national who returned from the Philippines that very same day was discovered to have COVID-19. […]

Myanmar is undertaking a first-ever massive tender for 30 ground-mounted solar projects totalling 1,060 MW capacity spread out over nearly half of the country’s states and regions. The effort was prompted by the Government’s economic stimulus package meant to minimize the impact of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights of this note The key points of […]

Although the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) in Myanmar is still one of the lowest in the region, companies have already observed quite a stir in their regular operations. The government has been releasing some instructions regarding precautions and safety measures to which everybody has to adhere. Highlights of this note If […]