On 5 October 2021, the Royal Government of Cambodia issued the Law on Competition (“Competition Law”) with the aim to provide a more fair and harmonized business environment. Subsequently, on 17 February 2022, Sub-Decree 37 was issued to form the Cambodia Competition Committee (“CCC”) as the authority to enforce implementation of the Competition Law. Furthering […]

The Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee (“FESC”) decided to grant foreign companies an exemption from mandatory forex conversion in its meeting no.78/2022. In this regard, the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued letter no. FE-1/2861 dated 30 December 2022 concerning the resolution of the FESC’s meeting, which instructs the AD licensed banks to comply with such […]

A parliamentary amendment of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission Act on the adjustment of gas and electricity tariffs has passed. As per the amendment, a new clause has been added that allows the government to adjust tariffs by notification or official gazette without a public hearing. The amendment also shortened the time period for the […]

VDB Loi Vietnam has prepared an updated version of guide answering to the most frequent questions relating to the provision of foreign loans to borrowers in Vietnam.  This include the process of loans registration, available security package and key parties that need to be involved and their roles. Version in Japanese: Foreign Loans for Vietnamese […]

Ministry of Industry and Trade approved ceiling tariffs for the transitional solar and wind power projects. Please refer to the summary note for details.

We share some of the key overviews prepared by VDB Loi team in Vietnam over the course of 2022, as well as a year-end update summarizing some of the latest developments

Aiming to update the old ordinance government has re-enacted an ordinance named Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation Act 2022. According to the new law, a corporation will be established titled the Bangladesh Oil, Gas, and Mineral Corporation for carrying out the purposes of this bill. The corporation may also be called Petrobangla. This will […]

Aiming to change the names of two posts in the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission government gas amended the law name Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission 2017. According to the amendment, if there is any post called Assistant Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Additional Secretary, and Secretary in any office under any ministry or division, the name of the […]

Aiming to protect environmental health, the government has published a new rule based on section 20 of The Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995. The main objectives of this rule are to prevent, control, and reduce air pollution. The government will appoint a director general who will be responsible for managing and maintaining the environmental issue. […]

The government introduced a new rule based on the Electricity Act of 2018, named Electricity Rules 2022. In this new rule, among many things, the government clarified the issue regarding the formation of the electricity licensing board, the duty of the board, the procedure for issuing licenses for electricians and supervisors, the examination procedure, and the […]

The Ministry of Labor and Employment introduced 101 new amendments to the Labor Rule 2015, on 01 September 2022. There are some major and minor changes in the newly amended rule. Among the major changes, conduct towards women, maternity benefits, arrangement of health centers that will provide consultation to women are significant. As per the […]

Over the last few years a lot of attention in Vietnam was focused on the possible rate of tariff that should apply to the transitional solar and wind projects, i.e. projects that were initiated earlier, but did not meet the deadline of the previously introduced feed-in-tariff. The opportunities to become eligible for such feed-in-tariff expired […]

Bangladesh Railway is expanding their social services, recently they are planning to establish 250 beds hospital to serve their employee. Bangladesh Railway has established several hospital time to time, Kamalapur railway Hospital is one of them.  Bangladesh Railway has decided to upgrade and modernize the existing hospital at Kamlapur to a 250-bed hospital and establish […]

Investors in Vietnam can choose different routes to implement their projects. The major pathways are envisaged by the PPP Law and the Investment Law. Highlights What are the major regulatory pathways to a new project Major permits required Land allocation regime Specifics of regulation in energy sector and expected developments

The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare of the Lao PDR (MLSW) has issued Decree No.2718/LSW dated 8 July 2022 (the “Decree”) stipulating specific guidelines to implement the Notification No. 829/PMO dated 13 June 2022 issued by the Prime Minister’s Office concerning an increment of the national statutory minimum wage from LAK1,100,000 to LAK1,300,000 (please […]

Bangladesh should presently be a super attractive destination for international investment in solar energy. Even though it does not lag as much behind in terms of electricity production as it used to earlier, nearly all of the present generation is fossil fuel based.

Bangladesh National Parliamentary Amendment Bill No 11/2022, on “Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation Ordinance 1985 (Draft)” dated 5 June 2022

Evolution of Green Finance framework in Bangladesh Bangladesh’s focus shifted towards sustainable financing in 2009, when a refinancing scheme for “Renewable Energy and Environment Friendly Financeable Sectors” was introduced.[1] This focus was further crystallized and formalized by framing of the Policy Guidelines on Green Banking in 2011. The priority given to this area was further […]

In this briefing the team of VDB Loi (Vietnam) answers to the most frequently raised questions relating to the provision of foreign loans to companies in Vietnam. This article generally assumes that parties are looking to implement long-term financing for a company registered in Vietnam. Note that additional requirements may apply to certain specifically regulated […]

On 6 April 2022, the Ministry of Energy and Mines issued Decision No. 674/MOEM on new licensing requirements for mining service activities in the Lao PDR. Here is a brief summary: Definition of mining service activities Mining service activities are services relating to mineral exploration, surveying, map drafting, geophysical surveying, drilling, exploitation, transportation, analysis, mining […]